[caption id="attachment_31432" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Bystanders saw someone matching Harrington's description walking along the Copeley Road bridge in the direction of Ivy Road between 9:20 and 9:30 p.m.
Ten weeks into the fall semester, Student Council President John Nelson's administration has broken ground on a number of its initial goals to improve outreach.
Poets & Writers Magazine ranked the University's creative writing master's degree program third overall in the country in its November/December 2009 issue. "[The program is] one of our biggest strengths and [it is] obviously one of the best writing programs in the country," English Department Chair Cynthia Wall said. Director of Creative Writing Christopher Tilghman said Poets & Writers based its rankings partially on factors like funding and postgraduate placement, but placed more emphasis on polling students applying to the programs. "They were trying to avoid the bias of people who had already gone through programs," Tilghman said.
The James Madison University Judicial Affairs Office has brought charges against student journalists for allegedly committing policy violations while reporting. Journalists working for The Breeze, JMU's student newspaper, declined to comment on the issue per their attorney's advice, said JMU Media Arts and Design Prof.
[caption id="attachment_31402" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The University will significantly expand the Health System in the near future.
Student Council and Hoo Crew are launching a joint fundraiser called "Hoos for Herzlich" to honor Boston College athlete Mark Herzlich, the 2008 ACC Defensive Football Player of the Year who was diagnosed this spring with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. Council and Hoo Crew will work to raise money for Uplifting Athletes, a non-profit organization comprised of current student-football athletes who raise awareness of and funding for rare diseases. "We want to do our part to support our fellow conference athlete ... with a goal of raising $10,000 before Boston College comes to play here on Nov.
The University ranked 28th on the 2009 Trojan Sexual Health Report Card, receiving an overall "sexual health" GPA of 2.94
[caption id="attachment_31404" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Darden School. Photo by Iram Shaikh."]
The University Judiciary Committee introduced the new First Year Judiciary Committee at its weekly meeting last Sunday.
[caption id="attachment_31357" align="alignleft" width="223" caption="Rep. Tom Perriello, pictured on the campaign trail last year, and delegates David Toscano and Robert Bell were shown scale models of turbines at the University's Rotating Machinery and Controls Laboratory to simulate wind energy options.
In an effort to improve its outreach, Student Council has developed a number of programs to encourage co-sponsorship among student groups and to support the functions of contracted independent organizations. Last Monday, 85 student leaders from various CIOs, seven members of the University administration and staff members from Student Activities and Business Services convened at the CIO Leadership Dinner in the Newcomb Ballroom for a keynote program with resources from dominant organizations on Grounds, including the University Programs Council, the University Judiciary Committee and the Fourth Year Trustees. The dinner was intended to initiate conversations about co-sponsorship among attendees.
University Asst. Medical Prof. Jessica Connelly and researchers at Duke University have discovered a possible link between autism and genes that are turned on and off in DNA. The research, which was co-led by Duke Medical Asst.
Dr. Paul Wichansky, a national public speaker on disabilities awareness, spoke at the University last night, kicking off the University's Disability Awareness Week. Wichansky, who has cerebral palsy, "speaks all about overcoming adversity and about empowering yourself as a disabled person, [as well as] bridging the gap between the disabled and the non- disabled population," third-year Commerce student Jason Shapiro said. Shapiro, whose younger brother has cerebral palsy, approached the University Programs Council about organizing the event, UPC Director of Current Events Stephanie Nguyen said. Shapiro noted that his younger brother was "instrumental" in getting Disabilities Awareness Month passed at the state level, and Shapiro wanted to mold it into a week-long event suitable for the University. "It's just to spread awareness," he said, so "that people who aren't usually around people with disabilities know about it, can deal with it better on a day-to-day basis, if they see people on the street with a disability, that kind of thing." In this vein, Disabilities Awareness Week will feature two speakers and two film screenings.
[caption id="attachment_31318" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The vibrant yellow and red hues are expected to last until the beginning of November.
[caption id="attachment_31271" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Student Health and Intrarvene will host a clinic for students to receive the flu shot and other vaccines today at the Aquatic and Fitness Center.
[caption id="attachment_31269" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Honor Committee discussed two proposed amendments that could allow students found guilty of an honor offense during the Semester at Sea program a second trial in Charlottesville.
The David & Lucile Packard Foundation named Biomedical Engineering Asst. Prof. Kevin Janes a recipient of the Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering last Thursday for his outstanding achievement in the field of biomedicine. In his research, Janes said he is trying to understand how the hundreds - and perhaps thousands - of different signaling molecules inside a cell work together as a network to coordinate a cell's decision to proliferate, differentiate or die in response to environmental changes. "I use the engineer's perspective to conclude how cells change according to different environments," Janes said. Janes said he plans to use the grant to support his general research activity by bringing two graduate students and one postdoctoral researcher onto the project.
The University released its listing of courses for the spring semester Friday through the Student Information System - bringing to the fore some community members' continued concerns about the course registration process. The next semester offers students an array of classes from which to choose, with the College currently scheduled to offer 4,124 class sections on Grounds, University Assoc.
Two University creative writing professors received Library of Virginia Literary awards in recognition of their poetry works Saturday.
[caption id="attachment_31236" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The partnership between Rolls-Royce and the University's Engineering School will help support the creation of research, employment and internship opportunities.
