Morgan Dana Harrington’s parents this week visited the Copeley Road bridge where she was last seen to leave mementos and posters at a small, makeshift memorial. “We are not building a mausoleum. This is her place of hope,“ said her mother, Gil Harrington. Morgan Harrington, 20, disappeared the night of Oct. 17 after leaving a Metallica concert at the University of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena. Police have said they’ve received several reports of a woman matching her description hitchhiking at about 9:30 that night on the bridge, which crosses railroad tracks.

The news is in the news.

• This week The Times-Dispatch’s Wes Hester reported that two student journalists at James Madison University face school charges for entering a dorm in search of comments for a news story for publication in The Breeze, the campus newspaper. Tim Chapman and Katie Hibson sought to interview students regarding allegations of a peeping Tom. The school claims the two violated regulations applying to residence halls. Chapman and Hibson say they followed proper procedures.

Two student journalists at James Madison University face judicial charges at the school after entering a dorm to get comments for a news story. Tim Chapman, 21, of Chantilly, the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper The Breeze, and reporter Katie Hibson, 19, of Loudoun County, were charged by JMU’s Office of Judicial Affairs with trespassing, disorderly conduct and noncompliance with an official request.

Virginia Commonwealth University has been ranked No. 11 in a survey of the top 25 “best neighbor” universities. Among programs cited were the “40 Acts of Caring” project that was part of VCU’s 40th anniversary commemoration last year and its partnership with the Carver community. The rankings were announced last Monday in Philadelphia at the 15th annual conference of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities. The University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California tied for the top position.

James Madison junior quarterback Drew Dudzik had a pin inserted in his fractured left foot on Monday, JMU coach Mickey Matthews said. Dudzik will be out at least six weeks, which probably means for the season. Dudzik suffered the injury in the third quarter of the Dukes’ 21-17 loss to Richmond on Saturday. Redshirt freshman Justin Thorpe (Varina High), recently named the starter after splitting time with Dudzik, now will get most of the playing time when the 16th-ranked Dukes (0-2 CAA, 2-3) play host to No.6 Villanova (2-1, 5-1) on Saturday.

Virginia Commonwealth University has been awarded a $190,580 grant to work with Richmond groups to reduce poverty in the region. The Jessie Ball duPont Fund awarded the three-year grant to create the VCU-United Way Financial Stability Alliance. In addition to the United Way, the alliance includes The Community Foundation of central Virginia, the Greater Richmond Earned Income Tax Coalition and New Visions New Ventures.

The Year of the Environment begins Thursday at Virginia Commonwealth University with a two-day E-Festival that includes a sustainability symposium and the chance to paint a Dumpster. At the University of Richmond, students are using pedal power to get around the 350-acre campus, borrowing green bicycles with sturdy tires and big handlebars available for anyone to use.

Liberty football coach Danny Rocco can rattle off all the things James Madison coach Mickey Matthews has accomplished in his first 10 seasons with the Dukes: a national championship in 2004, five NCAA playoff appearances, three conference championships, multiple awards as coach of the year. “He’s done all the things I aspire to do,“ Rocco said.

HARRISONBURG—Israel must stop building settlements in Palestinian areas if peace is ever to be achieved in the Middle East, former President Jimmy Carter said last night as he received an award for his humanitarian efforts. “As President Barack Obama has made clear, the key factor that prevents peace is the continuing building of Israeli settlements in Palestine, driven by a determined minority of Israelis who desire to occupy and colonize east Jerusalem and the West Bank,“ Carter said.

HARRISONBURG—Former President Jimmy Carter planned to discuss how to achieve peace in the Middle East as he received an award yesterday from James Madison University for his humanitarian efforts. Carter, a Nobel Peace laureate, and former first lady Rosalynn Carter were to receive the award from JMU’s Mahatma Gandhi Center for Global Nonviolence.

Former President Jimmy Carter plans to discuss how to achieve peace in the Middle East as he receives an award for his humanitarian efforts.

I saw my bicycle chained with a thick lock outside a freshman dorm on my campus and I immediately started to cry. I had ridden that bike across the United States in the summer of 2007. Four months ago, someone stole it off my front porch in Harrisonburg.

The football teams at VMI and James Madison may be on the march offensively today when the Keydets play the Dukes, ranked seventh in FCS, at 6 p.m. in Harrisonburg. Some students from both schools definitely will be on the march on the way to the game at Bridgeforth Stadium. Cadets from VMI and members of JMU’s ROTC were scheduled to march the game ball from Lexington to Harrisonburg in a tribute to the men and women serving in the U.S. Armed Forces around the world. The cadets will present the game ball to the officials before the game, according to VMI’s sports information department.

Josh Wine has come to terms with the knowledge that he may never quite fulfill his potential as an athlete. That was the fate he accepted when he decided to play two demanding sports, football and wrestling.

ROTC units from James Madison University and Virginia Military Institute will begin a 61-mile march today with the game ball for Saturday’s football game. The JMU Duke Battalion and VMI’s Marshall-New Market Battalion will march the ball from Lexington to Harrisonburg as a tribute to the sacrifice of those serving in the armed forces.