NOVA will be closed all day on Tuesday due to the record snow and an approaching storm, according to a text message alert.

The National Weather Service has placed the metro area under a Winter Storm Warning for snow fall between 10-20 inches that will start mid day Tuesday, and continue into Wednesday morning. To complicate matters further sustained winds of 15 to 20 MPH are called for, with higher gusts.

As usual NOVA kicked off the semester by organizing a NOVA Day at every campus. This day welcomes new and returning students by providing food, playing music and letting the student clubs recruit new members. Among these clubs were the Hispanic Student Union, Phi Theta Kappa, Vietnamese Student Association, the Visual and Performing Arts Association and others. All of these define a normal NOVA Day for the college.

Bright and early one recent morning, students from Northern Virginia Community College’s Annandale campus loaded onto a bus headed to Richmond, home of the Virginia Senate. Nervous, yet full of excitement, these students were able to dip their toes into politics and get a first-hand look at what really happens behind the scenes.

Winter is here, and that often means taking refuge from the cold weather by hanging out in the cafeteria or student lounges while trying to study. It’s too cold to hit the beach, but the weather changes too much to ice skate. Skiing is expensive, and the last thing you want to do is join a gaggle of tourists at some district museum you’ve probably already been to.

So what can you do when campus cabin fever hits? Go underground. Less than two hours west of Washington, D.C., are several vast underground caverns that leave visitors in awe of their spectacular geological formations.

I regularly volunteer to lay hands on or over people lying on a massage table to help them relieve stress, deal with cancer treatments or handle other issues in their lives. This NOVA student has made Reiki her favorite hobby. Believe it or not, there is nothing more involved in the treatment beyond focusing your attention on someone. I use symbols and mantras to focus and channel energy to them so they can heal from just about anything. Like Japanese food, learning about Reiki just doesn’t appeal to everyone or …

A Centreville-based band is set to hit the airwaves and the local music clubs this spring. Their music, a fusion of piano and violin instrumentals set to an electronica backdrop, challenges its audience to redefine rock music.

The Black Cat is filled with admiring fans, and the two-member ensemble with a flair for the theatrics captured their hearts and pulled in their attention to the musical spectacle. Alex Gioeli, 19, has always dreamed for this scene to come to fruition. Turn a pedestrian gaze at Gioeli and see nothing out of the seemingly mundane college sophomore. Open an inquiring eye and see a passionate and ambitious musician looking to make it big one day.

The 2009-2010 NOVA men’s basketball team under coach Mike Fitzmaurice began play on November 4 with a roster of 16 players, including four holdovers from the previous year.

The first game was against the Germantown campus of Montgomery College, ranked as #14 in the National Junior College Division III preseason poll. A six point NOVA halftime advantage didn’t hold up as NOVA succumbed 92-84.

Anime: randomness, perversion and unexpected. One word: kawaii! Here’s a brief education on what it is for non-otaku (“otaku” meaning people who are obsessed with anime, video games, etc.) One definition of anime from AllWords.com was “an artistic style used in Japanese animation that has also been adopted by some artists in America and other countries.” Shows created by manga artists, are spoken in English or Japanese. However, it depends on whether the U.S. distributor could dub over the original language or insert subtitles for the show. I remember my …

The 2009-2010 NOVA women’s basketball team has continued its winning ways from last year under new head coach Wayne Vincent. Its roster of ten players includes five from last year’s team.

NOVA lost a big early lead in its first game against Hagerstown CC before losing 73-69, but then won its two games in a North Carolina tournament. It then lost a lopsided game to Baltimore City Community College to go 2-2 for the year. However, it finished up November with four straight wins to finish at 6-2 for the month.