Gov. Bob McDonnell issued an executive order Friday that will establish a commission on higher education reform, innovation and investment. The commission will focus on increasing the number of degree-bearing Virginians by 100,000 through a period of 15 years, attracting more young people into the areas of science, technology, engineering and math.
[caption id="attachment_34029" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="David Baldacci, a graduate of the University's Law School and well-known novelist, will serve as this year's valedictory speaker.
Dozens of Jefferson Scholars program finalists completed the final stage of the selection process on Grounds this weekend, spending four days participating in the University's 30th annual selection weekend. Out of 101 finalists who visited Grounds this weekend, scholarships will be offered to about 30 students today, and those students will have until April 30 to accept. The weekend enabled judges to get to know the finalists beyond the information collected on paper, said National Advisory Board Member David Tolmie, who serves on one of the selection committees. "We see the background information, then we want to get to know them personally," he said. Each six-person selection committee evaluated a group of seven finalists, he said.
A collection of some of the nation's top venture capitalist firms, including many of their senior managing partners, came to Charlottesville last Thursday and Friday for the University's Venture Summit, a one-and-a-half day program organized by the Office of the Vice President for Research. The program consisted of a variety of event intended to establish the University as a global destination for technology-based ventures, Vice President for Research Tom Skalak said.
New radio technology - known as Gamma Knife eXtend - will make it easier to treat large brain tumors and tumors near sensitive brain components. The technology has a re-locatable frame without pins that can be used directly on the patient, meaning it does not require a rigid frame fixation, said Jason Sheehan, associate professor of neurological surgery and radio oncology at the University.
[caption id=“attachment_33988” align=“alignleft” width=“300” caption=“From left, Will Bane, Halley Esptein, Bela Dhamankar and John Zettler will begin their term April 1.
[caption id="attachment_33986" align="alignleft" width="199" caption="Rep. Tom Perriello released a statement Wednesday condemning acts of political violence against public officials and their families.
Charlottesville City Council held a public forum Wednesday night to allow residents to discuss the city's proposed budget for fiscal year 2011. The discussion largely focused on the budget's allocation of $10 million to various nonprofit organizations.
University Medical School researchers concluded Wednesday that hand sanitizing is more effective against fighting the common cold than hand washing. The research, fully funded by The Dial Corporation in Scottsdale, Ariz., was divided into two experiments. During the first experiment, researchers placed a virus on volunteers' hands and asked them to clean their hands either using water, using soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. "While the hand washing removed the virus, [it] is statistically significantly worse than hand sanitizers [used] just for removal of viruses from hands," said Pediatrics Prof.
[caption id="attachment_33951" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Gov. Bob McDonnell signed the Virginia Health Care Freedom Act, which prohibits mandating health care coverage, into law yesterday.
The Honor Committee sponsored a forum last night to discuss ethical academic responsibility and the differences between faculty and student expectations of academic ethical principles. The forum was held in the wake of strong faculty and student response to the statistical analysis of the final examination results for PHYS 142E, held in spring 2008.
[caption id="attachment_33948" align="alignleft" width="274" caption="Leonard Sandridge, executive vice president and chief operating officer, will have his name attached to the University Department of Human Resource's Outstanding Contribution Award.
Christopher Brightman, CEO of the University of Virginia Investment Management Company, which manages the University's endowment, has resigned for unspecified personal reasons. According to Pensions & Investments, a financial newsletter, Brightman said he plans to return to the investment management industry in the future. "I have the utmost regard for the staff and board of UVIMCO," Brightman said.
[caption id="attachment_33882" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Three established alumni and friends of current University president John T.
[caption id="attachment_33879" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Student Council, together with the Arts & Sciences Council, will assist in putting on a celebration of women and the arts Saturday.
Experts from China, France and the United States convened on Grounds for a three-day conference that ended yesterday to discuss how non-governmental organizations help to shape public health polices. The Trilateral Conference on HIV/AIDS and Public Health Access, hosted in Newcomb Hall's South Meeting Room, was co-sponsored by the University's Center for International Studies and the Paris-based Institute for Research and Debate on Governance, an organization that in part aims to analyze the interaction taking place between NGOs and state authorities, especially through forums such as the one on Grounds, according to the conference proposal. "A Franco-Chinese forum was organized in Beijing in 2007 concerning the role of NGOs in education and health care," the conference proposal states.
The Engineering School will host a forum focused on "ethics and academic life" today from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Charlottesville City Council is in the process of amending City Manager Gary O'Connell's fiscal year 2011 budget proposal of about $140.8 million, which is about $1.7 million lower than the fiscal year 2010 budget. "Much of the challenge in developing the FY 2011 Proposed Budget was balancing revenues and expenditures given the decreases in local revenues and state funding, and the needs to maintain quality services," according to the proposal. Leslie Beauregard, director of Budget and Performance Management, said the city must cut some expenditures because several revenue sources have declined.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to provide health care to 32 million uninsured Americans in a 219-212 vote Sunday, with all Republicans in opposition.
