[caption id="attachment_45693" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation awarded Hannah Meredith for her research on amoeba motility.
Janny Scott, author of "A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mother," spoke yesterday at the Miller Center of Public Affairs about her book and the life experiences of Stanley Ann Dunham, mother of President Obama. Before beginning research for the book, Scott worked in the journalism industry for more than 30 years.
[caption id="attachment_45620" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Coach Mike London and his football team may benefit from an indoor athletic facility.
President Obama signed a bill last Friday that aims to institute sweeping patent reforms, which could affect the way the University competes with other institutions of higher education to obtain patents for its research. In a statement released Friday about the America Invents Act, the White House mentioned the University as being one of "over 40 universities [that] are answering the President's call to expand their commercialization programs and goals." "Universities were asked in time for [the bill signing] to report to the White House Office of Science and Technology" about how they are doing a better job promoting innovation and commercialization, especially in how they partner with the private sector, said Mark Crowell, executive director for innovation partnerships and commercialization at the University. In response, the University is more heavily focusing on obtaining patents for research, with an emphasis on translational research, which can be made into commercialized products, Crowell said. The new provisions could have lasting effects for the University's approach to patents. "[The law] is going to change the calculus of how quickly to file [a patent]," University Law Prof.
[caption id="attachment_45617" align="alignleft" width="196" caption="The Mead Endowment is named after Ernest "Boots" Mead, a retired professor of music.
[caption id="attachment_45518" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Pittsburgh football teammates Lucas Nix and Emanuel Rackard are among the many players who will now compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
[caption id="attachment_45515" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="An investigation of the Rotunda's roof this past summer found that the structure did not have major damage despite years of leaking.
Prince William County Court Judge Gaylord Finch delayed arguments in the American Tradition Institute's Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the University Friday because of the potential precedent-setting implications of the case. Following a brief hearing about a Motion to Intervene - a petition to the court by an outside party requesting to join the case because of interest in the subject matter - filed on behalf of former University Environmental Sciences Prof.
After months of debate, the Virginia Board of Health voted 12-1 Thursday to approve abortion clinic regulations critics say may shut down clinics across the state. The new regulations tighten providers' licensing and inspection requirements, threatening clinics which may not be able to afford to meet the new standards. If approved by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and Gov.
[caption id="attachment_45485" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The students had originally painted "Palestine deserves a state" on the bridge.
[caption id="attachment_45482" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The current definition of a "college newspaper" prevents The Cavalier Daily and The Collegiate Times from printing alcohol advertisements.
[caption id="attachment_45479" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Sara Neher, assistant dean of MBA admissions at the Darden School, said the applications are counter-cyclical to the economy.
Frederick Hitz, former CIA agent, adjunct Batten professor and senior fellow at the University's Center for National Security Law, spoke yesterday about weaknesses of the CIA and how the organization can move forward. Hitz worked for the CIA between 1967 and 1998, serving in the clandestine service as legislative counsel to the director of Central Intelligence and as deputy director for Europe in the Directorate of Operations.
The Board of Visitors unanimously approved the University Judiciary Committee's proposed revisions to its Standards of Conduct yesterday, redefining sexual misconduct and expanding the jurisdiction of UJC policy. The approved revisions are to Standard I, the first of which replaces "sexual assault" with "sexual misconduct" in alignment with the University's Policy and Procedures for Student Sexual Misconduct Complaints. The University adopted the policy under federal mandate in July.
[caption id="attachment_45399" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="A city ordinance, currently in dispute in district court, makes it illegal to solicit money on the downtown mall.
The progressive American Constitution Society for Law and Policy released an analysis last week outlining ways states and state institutions could circumvent the "politically-motivated" attempts by conservative groups to obtain emails and documents of faculty members at public universities. The analysis was conducted in part as a response to the ongoing efforts of the American Tradition Institute to access the documents of former University Environmental Sciences Prof.
[caption id="attachment_45393" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The default rate for loans through University financial aid, located in Carruthers Hall, is significantly lower than the national average.
A statewide poll released yesterday by Quinnipiac University showed high approval ratings for Gov. Bob McDonnell along with other Virginia politicians. McDonnell's job approval rating stands at 61 percent with 21 percent disapproval, according to the poll. Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said the University conducts polls for seven states: Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Among those states, "McDonnell's are the best approval ratings that a governor has." McDonnell is not only popular among Republican voters but among Democratic voters as well, Brown said. Kyle Kondik, director of communications at the University Center for Politics, said he does not think the poll results are surprising because McDonnell has enjoyed a comfortable time as governor. The unemployment rate in Virginia is currently 6.1 percent - 3 percent lower than the national rate, according to the Virginia Employment Commission. "A combination of a low unemployment and low controversy, I'd say there are a lot of things going his way," Kondik said. The approval ratings are not only high for McDonnell, but also for four other state officials included in the Quinnipiac poll. U.S.
In recognition of her research into bacterial infections, University Asst. Prof. Alison Criss was chosen to receive a 2011 ICAAC Young Investigator Award by the American Society for Microbiology. The research she started as a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University, and has continued at the University, focuses on finding a more effective way to treat the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Criss said. "Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which is the cause of the STD Gonorrhoea, is a huge public health problem," Criss said.
