Carol Finch

Carol Finch
11 December 1953—4 March 2013
long-time volunteer around the C’ville racing scene, as she appeared at the North Garden Chicken Run in 2007.

Our friend Carol Finch died last night 4 March 2013. She directed multiple events annually, scored scores and scores of other races during her lifetime, coached lots of novice race directors, served repeatedly on the board of the local track club, and helped in many other ways with Charlottesville’s local racing community. Probably the Charlottesville Track Club’s Lifetime Service Award should be renamed the “Carol Finch Lifetime Service Award” in her honor.

Oh, and don’t forget that she also greeted lots of dogs that visited race sites and was a discerning sampler of any homemade goomies available for post-race snacking.

Update 8 March: Read Mark Lorenzoni’s fine tribute to Carol in his column, The Daily Run. Watch the CTC Website for notes about events celebrating her life. Read the obituary for Carol with recommendations about donations.

Waiting for My Fool Heart

Here we were last night at the C’ville test screening of My Fool Heart, the film I mentioned a couple-few years ago. Folks were filing into the Paramount Theater on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall. Jim Waive and Sian Richards were in the lobby when we arrived, but we just said “Hi” quickly to them and then hustled into the house as we wanted to get good seats. This was the view from the second row of the balcony waiting for the series of slides showing coming events to end. Though it looks a bit sparse in this photo, once everyone left the party in the lobby and took seats, there was a good house.

View from the balcony of the scene in Charlottesville’s Paramount Theater at the test screening of My Fool Heart 20121117 [Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
John@johnwillslloyd.com]

Madness on the DT Mall?

Did you know that there’s a mad woman loose on Hookville’s downtown mall? It’s more than an idle rumor. It’s actually The Madwoman of Chaillot by Jean Giradoux, re-imagined by Kay Ferguson and a troupe of veteran players who have been engaged in intense physical training for months as they developed their version of the 1940s play.

The Madwoman of Chaillot is the story of a witty, eccentric woman who rallies a band of artists, workers, and down-and-out characters in a clever plan to disrupt avaricious plans of powerful figures who are bent on sacrificing beauty to obtain profits. As Ms. Ferguson says, the story sounds a lot like “Right Now, USA.”

The first performance is 6:00 PM 6 September 2012, and it’s running all through the month of September. The troupe is using a novel approach to the production, starting with a first act for free on the mall, then parading to The Haven, where they’ll accept donations for the second act, part of which will go to The Haven. Read all about the project, the players, and more.

U.Va. Faculty Senate Emergency Meeting

I had a good seat for the 17 June 2012 meeting of the University of Virginia’s Faculty Senate and was able to take a few photos. Those who follow my Twitter feed already have seen them, but I thought I ought to post links for those who might not have seen them but might be interested. As the image at the right shows, things started out quietly, with a few folks arriving early and getting places. This became important, because the auditorium was not large enough to accommodate the number of faculty members who attended and, as I understand, people had to watch closed circuit telecasts in other rooms.

At the front of the Abbott Center hall where we met, the dais was initially empty, but it was set for the executive committee of the U.Va. Faculty Senate. In addition to those who would sit on the dais, senators sat in the first few rows of the auditorium, with a few scattered elsewhere among the other faculty members, citizens, and representatives of the press who were attending the meeting.

When the executive committee filed in to fill the seats on the stage, its members were greeted with an ovation. The purpose of the meeting was for the full Faculty Senate to consider the resolution that its executive committee had already considered and passed

 

Resolved, that the Faculty Senate of the University of Virginia hereby:

1. Expresses its strong support of President Sullivan.

2. Expresses its lack of confidence in the Rector, the Vice Rector, and the Board of Visitors.

We offer this resolution mindful of the best interests of the University and the Commonwealth.

Faculty Senate Chair George Cohen began the meeting by providing an overview of the pending events and then introducing as a guest, the university’s provost, who would speak but would not take questions. Provost Simon (at right) spoke briefly about his views, emphasizing the importance about setting a good example of courage for his sons on fathers’ day, of heeding a recent alum’s encouragement to do what he sees as right, and assessing the correspondence between his and the the U.Va. Board of Visitor’s views on the values of honor, integrity, and trust, values that he (and, I add, most of us) consider central to the University of Virginia.

Following Mr. Simon’s comments, the Faculty Senate actually came into session. Members of the executive committee summarized events, the Senate members moved and seconded the resolution, a member offered comments, someone called the question, and and the members ultimately passed the resolution overwhelmingly. As I post this note Monday AM, members of the Faculty Senate’s executive committee are meeting with members of the Board of Visitors. Later Monday afternoon, faculty members will gather on the lawn outside the rotunda where the members of the board of visitors are meeting.

What will be the dénouement?

Who’s the 99%?

Rev. Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir have an answer to that question. It’s actually pretty obvious, ’cause the 1% (really the one-tenth of one percent) are all those folks you and I see pretty much every day. May Day is just around the corner.

U.Va. Beyond Coal

As some readers know, I am affiliated with the University of Virginia (U.Va.). U.Va. has been heated with coal for a very long time and, according to a recent request for proposals, anticipates using 34,000 tons of coal per year for coal-fired heat plants at U.Va. to “provide critical services affecting approximately 85% of the facilities on Grounds including the Hospital, research facilities, academic building and resident halls” (U.Va. Procurement Services, 2011, p. 4). I am hoping that my employer will join other institutions of higher education and move beyond using coal as a source of energy for heating.

Students and others at U.Va. are raising concerns about U.Va.’s use of coal. In October of 2011, some folks organized an event dubbed “Camp Out for Clean Energy” that echoed an event a year earlier conducted by an ad hoc U.Va. group called “UVa Beyond Coal” (Welch. 2010). According to Kurt Walters (2011) of Cvilletomorrow in “University under fire for use of coal,” the more recent event “featured up to 70 students and community members coming to sign petitions to university President Teresa A. Sullivan, listening to live music and hearing an address by John Cruickshank, chairman of the Sierra Club’s Virginia chapter.”

It’s good to see these current actions, but the issues are not new. Concerns about the effects of U.Va.’s burning of coal were raised in the early 2000s. As reported by Lee Graves (2002) in “U.Va., DEQ share same goal — an efficient, effective heating plant,” U.Va. sought to address problems with pollution emissions from the heating plants in 2001-2 when local officials raised questions about the health effects of operating a coal-burning plant in an urban area. For more on the earlier flare, see Lisa Provence’s (2002) report for The Hook.

There are a host of reasons that using coal for energy generates problems—from harm done by some mining practices through pollution from the burning itself to the waste from the combustion. To be sure, there are reasons using coal is advantageous, and one must weigh the costs and benefits. I consider the costs too great in this case, and I hope that U.Va. will agree with that calculation, so I’m endorsing the Campuses Beyond Coal effort. I encourage my colleagues to do so, as well.

Simply download the accompanying PDF of Campuses Beyond Coal’s faculty endorsement form, complete it, and send it to a local Campuses Beyond Coal representative. There are two pages to this form. One is a general endorsement form and the second is for faculty members. Use the appropriate one for your situation.

Sources

Graves, L. (2002) U.Va., DEQ share same goal — an efficient, effective heating plant

Provence, L. (2002, 21 March). Coal truth at UVA. The Hook.

U.Va. Procurement Services. (2011, 22 February). Request for Proposal: Coal (RFP Number: #JG022211). Charlottesville, VA.

Walters, K. (2011, 28 October). University under fire for use of coal. Cvilletomorrow.

Welch, G. (2010, 8 October). ‘Beyond Coal’ gathers supporters. Cavalier Daily.

Better biking just up ahead?

Is bicycling gaining on us? I sure hope so, and some academic researchers give reason to argue that it is.

In an article entitled “Bicycling Renaissance in North America? An Update and Re-Appraisal of Cycling Trends and Policies” that is to appear in Transportation Research A, Professor John Pucher of Rutgers University and his colleagues report the results of their review of trends in cycling levels, safety, and policies in Canada and the United States and case-study data for the cities of Chicago, Minneapolis, Montréal; New York, Portland, San Fransisco, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington (DC). Their paper is a follow-up analysis from one that they published over 10 years ago in the same journal.
Professor Pucher and his colleagues wanted to examine national trends in cycling levels, safety, and funding in general and in those cities that had “been especially innovative and successful at increasing cycling” (p. 4). The results are informative. According to their abstract,

How now, Red Row hoers?

Many folks familiar with the local food scene know that Rev Soup is among the throng of eateries promoting the farm-to-table theme. Recently I’ve enjoyed following along in the adventures that proprietors Lisa and Will have documented in the blog on their site, Red Row Farm. Alert readers might enjoy doing so, too. There is a host of interesting entries to read, lots of fun content on sundry other matters, and lots of good writing. Check on it!

6 Degrees at Live Arts

I had the good fortune of watching the preview of Six Degrees of Separation at Live Arts Thursday and recommend it highly. Because I had seen them before, I expected that Doug Schneider (as Flan) and Kay Ferguson (as Ouisa) would give strong performances. I was pleasantly surprised to watch Lance Lemon provide a very smooth version of Paul the first time I saw him on stage. There are fun moments with various members of the company, too. It’s a tight production that director Betsy Tucker has running close to 90 minutes, stages on an imaginative set with a nifty and functional design by Jeffrey Kmiec, and orchestrates so that thought-provoking themes about race, class, honesty, homosexuality, and (of course) human connections are evident from the beginning. So, you should get tickets and see it.

Bike Week is coming

It’s just about here! Tomorrow is the official launch.

Bike Week. Spring is here. If you haven’t already, it’s time to get your bike out of the garage, dust off the seat, pump up the tires and of course, put those safety tips to use because May is National Bike Month and May 16-21 is Charlottesville Albemarle Bike Week. To celebrate, Bike Charlottesville, Charlottesville Community Bikes, Alternative Choices in Community Transportation, and UVa Parking & Transportation have teamed up with local sponsors to offer a bevy of free events for cyclists of all ages and abilities.

See Bike Charlottesville for a schedule of those events and a downloadable flyer.