VIRGO system sees improvements
By Kevin Mead | September 30, 2009[caption id="attachment_30664" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Some students expressed frustration with the library's current search system, VIRGO.
[caption id="attachment_30664" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Some students expressed frustration with the library's current search system, VIRGO.
An estimated 55,000 people will attend the U2 concert Thursday night at Scott Stadium. In anticipation of increased traffic, many of the University Transit System bus routes will run on altered service hours. The Central Grounds Shuttle and the Colonnade Shuttle will stop running at 5:30 p.m.. The Northline, Stadium/Hospital Shuttle, and the Inner and Outer U-Loops will end service at 4:30 p.m.
The Civility Project, a collaborative effort between The Papers of George Washington and the Civility Project Committee, is moving forward in its effort to revise George Washington's "Copy of Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation" for use in the 21st century. Washington's document consists of 110 rules of conduct that the first president copied down when he was only 16 years old and by which he lived thereafter.
The University officially launched its own iTunes U channel last Tuesday, allowing professors, schools and departments to post their own content directly to Apple's web-based media application. Professors can provide content exclusively to students in a particular class by linking the course's Collab site to iTunes or can choose to make content available to the general public by adding their courses to the University's public site, said Jonelle Kinback, assistant director of web communications in the Office of Public Affairs. Mike McPherson, associate vice president and deputy chief information officer, said the site connects course material with students' lives in a way that few other media sources can. "With the predominance of iPods and iPhones and iPod Touches as music and video players, making course materials available in a format that is very easily downloaded to the player that most people have is a win," he said. A trial version of the channel launched last March, Kinback said, to allow departments and schools to get a feel for how to post content and what content was best suited for the site.
[caption id="attachment_30645" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Merrill Peterson, former head of the history department, wrote and edited more than 37 books during his career.
[caption id="attachment_30643" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Asst. Biomedical Enginnering Prof.
Gov. Tim Kaine recently awarded an $80,000 grant to the University's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service in preparation for the upcoming 2010 national census. The grant will aid demographers' statistical research to update address lists and population estimates for Virginia, the seventh fastest growing state in the United States, said Qian Cai, director of Demographics and Workforce Research at the Weldon Cooper Center. The United States Census Bureau relies on both local and state government outfits and private organizations like the Cooper Center to maintain accurate population information.
Student leaders from various contracted independent organizations across Grounds met to discuss sustainability and its relation to their organizations at the first full meeting of the University Unity Project yesterday. Andrew Greene, sustainability planner for the University Architect's Office, opened the meeting of the Unity Project - the theme for which this year is environmental awareness - by speaking about how the University interacts, both positively and negatively, with the environment. "A good way to create sustainability," he said to a room full of student group representatives, "is to work for a generation that's able to meet its own needs." Later, Unity Project Co-chair Garrett Trent said Green's talk highlighted an important part of what the Unity Project hopes to accomplish. "We hope to be more than just another committee," he said.
[caption id="attachment_30588" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Delta Upsilon fraternity brothers and alumni, along with some University officials, braved Saturday's rain to break ground.
[caption id="attachment_30585" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Barbara Pierson, whose daughter was expelled in October 2008, expressed her thoughts about the honor process last night.
A student's relationship with his parents as well as his level of popularity can directly affect how he responds to peer pressure, according to an ongoing study conducted by Psychology Prof.
Student Council representatives last Sunday elected second-year College student Sheffield Hale and fourth-year College student Garrett Trent to lead this year's University Unity Project, which will focus on environmental sustainability. "We hope to give student groups that are concerned about environmental issues a little extra backing," said Nikhil Panda, Council vice president of administration.
[caption id="attachment_30567" align="alignleft" width="199" caption="In 1956, U.S. District Court Judge John Paul ruled in Allen v.
[caption id="attachment_30565" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The University Transit Service is participating in this week's "Try Transit Week," hosted by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.
The Faculty Senate met yesterday to continue discussion about issues such as state budget cuts, the presidential search and scholarly publication rights. University President John T.
[caption id="attachment_30517" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The new Delta Upsilon house will be located at 135 Madison Lane.
The MacArthur Fellows program earlier this week named University Creative Writing Prof. Deborah Eisenberg as one of its 24 recipients of the MacArthur Fellowship grant.
The University's International Healthcare Worker Safety Center established a new health safety center in the Democratic Republic of Congo this summer with partners Becton, Dickinson and Company and the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation. The new Center of Excellence in Occupational Safety for Health Workers, which opened Aug.
[caption id="attachment_30476" align="alignleft" width="199" caption="The Sigma Phi Epsilon national headquarters, in conjunction with the University, decided to close the Virginia-Eta chapter Monday because of "disruptive behavior." All brothers living in the fraternity house have 30 days to find housing off Grounds.
The South Lawn Project, which will add more than 100,000 square feet of academic space to the College , is expected to cost a total of $105 million