Collegiate Times

In a vote late last night the House of Representatives passed the Senate version of the health care reform bill by a margin of 219-212.

The vote is a victory for the Obama administration, but the process is not over. Next, the Senate is to vote on a number of “fixes” to the bill in the reconciliation procedure that bypasses the filibuster, which would give Republicans an effective veto over the measure by requiring 60, rather than 51, votes.

Of particular concern to college students is the feature that allows for students to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until they are 26 years old. Pk

I’ve noticed a lot of confusion and frustration concerning the CT’s moderation, burial, and deletion system, so here’s a brief primer on the current setup:

First, our public editor, Justin Graves, does not delete comments; they are merely buried and marked as such.  We did have a bug that got some comments accidentally deleted, but our web editor Jamie Chung has since fixed this bug.  If a comment has disappeared recently, this was due to the bug and not intentional.

Second, a new IP address banning system is now in place.  It works like this: If the same commenter from a single IP address has five or more of his/her comments buried due to a violation of the CT guidelines, then that address will be banned from commenting for one (1) month.  Jamie is toying with raising the requirement to ten buried comments before banning an address, but currently it stands at five.

EDIT: To comment, one is asked for a name (it can be anything or blank/anonymous), and an email address that is not shared. As of Feb. 24, the blogs have been changed so that the same applies on blog comments.

Additionally, we have recently noticed a couple of possible new bugs, including the “flag” feature sometimes not responding without reloading the page first, and, more mysteriously, some comments have been apparently independently moving and hierarchically reorganizing themselves every once in a while .  Jamie’s looking into it.

That’s about it. I hope that helps clear up some of the concerns I’ve seen around the CT website. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment. Pk

A Virginia Senate committee has voted 8-7 to allow concealed carry weapons into the Commonwealth’s bars.

Senator John Edwards, who represents Blacksburg and other areas in Southwest Virginia, voted in favor on Wednesday.  A vote on the Senate floor is expected shortly.

The move is the latest to likely add fuel to the fire regarding the status of concealed carry in public and private areas around the state and country, and in particular on public university campuses such as Virginia Tech. Pk

The Sporn Award, a prestigious, student-selected award for introductory instructors at Tech, is currently open for nominations at the local chapter Omicron Delta Kappa’s Web site:http://www.odk.org.vt.edu/sporn.htm.

The award carries a $2000 cash prize. The student selection committee also includes a faculty advisor–the previous year’s winner. Pk

It’s official: the next governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general of Virginia will be Republican.

With decisive victories from Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling, and Ken Cuccinelli, many will be wondering what the statewide election says at the national level, especially going into the 2010 Congressional midterm elections.

“That Republican resurgence, that revolution, has begun again,” said Eric Cantor, Republican whip in the House of Representatives. But does a vote against Creigh Deeds, Jody Wagner, or Steve Shannon mean a vote against President Barack Obama?

Of those that voted for Deeds, 38 percent said their vote was in support of the president, according to exit polls, and 42 percent of McDonnell voters said their vote was one against Obama.

However, overall, 55 percent of voters said that President Obama was not a factor in their vote. In New Jersey’s gubernatorial election, 60 percent said the same.

Republican attendees at McDonnell headquarters in Richmond disagreed. Cantor said that the vote was an indictment of “the Obama-Pelosi-McCain agenda.”

Every president in American history, with the exceptions of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and George W. Bush, experienced a loss in House seats in the first midterm election following their moves into the White House, according to Larry Sabato, political science professor at the University of Virginia.

So while there may indeed be Republican victories next year, there is little agreement on whether tonight’s result forecasts anything of the sort.  Voters themselves have indicated that 2009 may or may not mean anything for 2010. Pk

Republican Bob McDonnell just gave his acceptance speech in the ballroom of the Richmond Mariott. The room erupted in boisterous cheering as McDonnell took the stage.

McDonnell began his speech by thanking his family, friends and supporters. He also said that he looks forward to continuing to work with opponent  Creigh Deeds as the Democrat continues to serve in the Virginia state senate.

“There are some things that transcend politics,” McDonnell said. “We are all Virginians and we are all Americans.”

McDonnell hopefully promised to be a successful leader.

“We will find new ways to solve problems and create more jobs and opportunities,” he said.

McDonnell said he was excited for his whole ticket after Bill Bolling has also won the lieutenant governor post and Ken Cuccinelli has become the next attorney general.

“Working together, we will leave Virginia better than we found it,” McDonnell said.

Just after Ken Cuccinelli accepted the post of attorney general, Bill Bolling gave his own acceptance speech as he was elected lieutenant governor of Virginia.

“I told you if you went out and brought those voters to the polls today we were gonna have a good night, and we’re having a good night,” Bolling said.

Bolling thanked his supporters and spoke to the importance of running a campaign based on issues and ideas. He laid out promises to improve the economic situation in Virginia, to increase available jobs, to resolve both education and transportation issues and to “do everything we can to improve access and affordability in va without turning it over to the federal government.”

“This is the dawn of a new day in Virginia,” Bolling said.

Cuccinelli has just taken the stage in the Richmond Mariott ballroom to seize the office of attorney general.

He said that Steve Shannon recently called him to concede the race.

Cuccinelli praised Shannon for “running a hard race.”

“He did a good job and is to be congratulated,” Cuccinelli said.

Cuccinelli continued by thanking God, his family, and his “grassroots army” of supporters for his victory.

He spoke about his commitment as attorney general to “protect our constitution, all of it, as it was written.”

Cuccinelli concluded his speech by quoting Dr. Seuess.

“I meant what I said and said what I meant, this elephant’s faithful 100 percent.”

The atmosphere at Republican headquarters was festive as Bob McDonnell became the projected winner of the gubernatorial race by major networks including CNN and Fox News.

With more than 64 percent of the vote, McDonnell held a decisive lead over Democratic challenger Creigh Deeds.

Candidate for lieutenant governor Bill Bolling and attorney general candidate Ken Cuccinelli also lead decisively over their Democratic challengers, both with over 60 percent of the vote.

Republicans will no doubt claim the victory represents a referendum against Democrats on the federal level, particularly under the policies of the Obama Administration and a Democratic Congress.

“American’s proud of you tonight,” said Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee in Richmond. “Let the numbers roll in, baby, let ‘em show the victory!”

“”Because of you we won a great victory tonight,” said Eric Cantor, Republican whip in the House of Representatives.  “Because of you that Republican resurgence, that revolution, has begun again.”

Current Mississippi governor (and former RNC chairman) Hailey Barber, Virginia Republican Party chairman Pat Mullins, and current RNC chairman Michael Steele just addressed the crowd in the Richmond Mariott Hotel. Still no sign of McDonnell, who is expected to deliver a press conference soon.

The latest exit polls show all three Republican candidates with big leads. Bob McDonnell is leading Creigh Deeds with 64%, Bill Bolling is leading Jody Wagner in the lt. governor’s race with 62%, and Ken Cuccinelli is leading Steve Shannon in the attorney general’s race at 63%. lb