Virginia’s attorney general has encouraged institutions of higher education to remove written policies they may have that enforce anti-discrimination policies on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

Ken Cuccinelli’s reasoning for this is that the standards of anti-discrimination policies for state institutions can only be set by the General Assembly and, since the Assembly has repeatedly voted against including such language in state policies, then universities should not be doing so.

President Barack Obama came to NOVA’s Alexandria campus on March 30 to sign the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.
A long line had formed outside the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center long before doors opened at 9:30 a.m. Inside, the 1,000-seat Mary Collier Baker Theater filled up quickly with students, staff and members of congress.

For two days over Spring Break students at NOVA’s Medical Education campus got to know the poor and underserved of Northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington. Students enrolled in the Dental Assistant, Dental Hygiene, Emergency Medical Technician and Nursing programs volunteered their services along with area dentists, pharmacists and translators during the days of March 12 and 13 for the Northern Virginia Mission of Mercy Project, also known as MOM.

Since the creation of the world, people have been getting married. Nowadays, humankind still follows this tradition, creating hundreds of new families every day. People interpret the meaning of marriage in different ways, but what is the real one?

President Barack Obama will sign health care and student loan reform into law on Tuesday at NOVA’s Alexandria campus.

The modified healthcare reform bill contains several new provisions from the one Obama signed into law earlier this week. One of the largest changes is the inclusion of student loan reform, which makes the government more involved in handing out loans. It also caps the maximum loan repayment to 10 percent of a person’s annual income.

Compiled by NOVA Fortnightly staff (because we had nothing better to do with our time off)

14 things you should not have done…

Stayed home. WTF?
Worn a Speedo. We don’t care how popular it is in Europe.

NOVA’s men’s basketball team concluded its season by losing in the second round of the Virginia Community College System tournament to Tidewater Community College on March 12 in Roanoke, 95-73. NOVA had hoped to fare better against Tidewater, as it had lost two previous games to them by only two points in overtime. NOVA wound up 11-15 overall and 4-5 in the VCCS during the regular season.

The turnout for the seminar was low, with more than half the auditorium left unfilled. Disappointing, said organizers, considering the topic is so important and common. That topic was domestic violence.
Every year Peggy Joy Sullivan comes to the Woodbridge campus of Northern Virginia Community College to teach people about what constitutes domestic violence and what to do about it. Sullivan is the community outreach coordinator for ACTS/Turning Points Domestic Violence Program in Dumfries. She has trained police officers, magistrates, mediators, judges, social workers, school nurses, teachers and counselors.

The NOVA women’s basketball team lost a tough game, 53-51 to Tidewater Community College in the finals of the Virginia Community College System tournament in Roanoke. The team only scored two points in the last eleven minutes in the March 14 game at Virginia Western Community College.

The city of Washington will celebrate the National Cherry Blossom Festival in its usual fashion, with lots of trees and tourists. The festival is Washington’s signature springtime event and is considered the beginning of tourist season. City officials hope the weather will cooperate. Good weather always brings a sigh of relief to officials, who cross their fingers and hope for pleasant weather and a good turnout each year. With the recession, it’s especially important that tourists spend substantial money, which they’re more likely to do if they’re out and about exploring the city and not inside taking shelter from rain.