For some of the University?s future students, the idea of simply compiling a list of colleges and to starting to fill out applications may be a relic of the past.
The University scored a B in the most recent edition of the College Sustainability Report Card, earning high marks in the fields of food and recycling, transportation, and green buildings, while receiving its lowest mark in endowment transparency.The Sustainable Endowments Institute, located in Cambridge, Mass., has published sustainability report cards for the past three years.
In the midst of two campaigns with historic racial and gender implications, the Miller Center for Public Affairs held a ?Race and Gender and American Politics? roundtable discussion last night, leading University professors to note that the two issues have taken on new and unprecedented roles in advance of the Nov.
Carr?s Hill, which has traditionally served as the residence of University presidents, is expected to undergo repairs in the near future as the University community celebrates the building?s centennial.The building, which is in close proximity to both the Rotunda and the Lawn, has been a historical fixture on Grounds since it was built in 1909.
In collaboration with several scientific research organizations and with the aid of a National Science Foundation grant, a University professor is leading a project to found a national research institute called The Center for Chemistry of the Universe.
Charlottesville General Registrar Sheri Iachetta will appear before a U.S. congressional committee today to discuss college students? voting rights in the towns in which they study and reside.In appearing before Rep.
The Engineering School is building a working relationship with Fortune 500 company Science Applications International Corporation that is expected to involve scholarships for students, collaborative research and a cyber-security speaker series.SAIC ? a scientific, engineering and technology applications company ? is partnering with the Engineering School through a five-year master research agreement, according to SAIC spokesperson Melissa Koskovich.Koskovich described SAIC as a company that uses its ?deep domain knowledge to solve problems of vital importance to the nation and the world,? focusing on national security, energy and the environment, critical infrastructure and health.
With the City of Charlottesville concentrating on the issue of affordable housing, Mayor Dave Norris has expressed concern that the University has a negative impact on the local housing market, primarily through the high volume of students living in city rental housing.
Francois Weil, a French historian and author of a forthcoming book about genealogy and race in 20th-century America, spoke at the University yesterday about his new work.For decades, Weil said, genealogy served to further discrimination through its connection to racism and eugenics.
After nine years of research, a laboratory team led by Chemistry Prof. James Landers recently accomplished its goal of packaging the process of DNA analysis into what Landers calls a ?Lab on a chip.?The team, which consists of graduate and undergraduate students as well as professors, has been transferring the types of chemical and biochemical processes used to analyze samples of DNA onto a single device, facilitating quicker analysis.The processes the lab team has put onto microchips include extracting DNA from a sample, which could be a ?root of hair, a blood stain on piece of clothing, a saliva sample, [or] cheek swab,? Landers said.This is followed by a polymerase chain reaction, a technique of capturing DNA after it has been released from the cell and then using the microchip to identify target sequences of DNA and amplify the researcher?s section of interest, Landers explained.This allows researchers to identify a part of the human genome to create a ?DNA fingerprint.?By putting the processes on microchips, the genetic analysis uses less of the sample and decreases the amount of time researchers must spend identifying whether the portion of targeted DNA is present within the sample, Asst.
In its first meeting of the semester yesterday, the Faculty Senate discussed the introduction of the new Human Resources Restructuring System and the effects of the economy on University finances.In his report on University affairs, University President John T.
Police and explosive device personnel responded yesterday morning to a report of a ?suspicious piece of abandoned luggage? in the Dawson?s Row area, near the Office of African-American Affairs, University Police Chief Michael Gibson said.Once officials arrived at the scene, the area surrounding the luggage was cordoned off with yellow caution tape.
In light of affordable housing issues in Charlottesville and economic troubles nationwide, the City of Charlottesville has recently raised city workers? base wage and is encouraging the University to do the same.
The Federal Pell Grant Program recently predicted it will need an additional $5.9 billion in 2009, as compared to 2008, to support the financial needs of college and university students.Pell grants are need-based grants that promote access to postsecondary education for low-income undergraduate and some post-baccalaureate students.
Last night Student Council passed a piece of legislation that renewed the contract for the ad hoc committee on international student financial aid.?I think this committee did fantastic work last year working on an issue that in the past hasn?t gotten as much attention as it truly deserves,? Council President Matt Schrimper said.
Unveiled last week, a new Web site service called Knetwit will serve as a networking site for students and professors who want to upload their class notes, papers and other resources for others to use.The social networking and information-sharing site is free to join and use, and the more a person?s material gets downloaded, the more points a student earns to be redeemed for cash or merchandise from the Knetwit store.The creators of the site, Benjamin Wald and Tyler Jenks, call Knetwit ?knowledge-based social networking,? and Wald said it takes social networking one step further.
Increased voter registration in the City of Charlottesville in anticipation of the upcoming presidential election has the city facing the possibility of having to redraw voter precincts.
McCain-Palin. Obama-Biden. Nader-Gonzalez? Perhaps to the surprise of some, there are four campaigns aside from the Democratic and Republican ones vying for the White House this November.
Institutions of higher education should place less of a focus on standardized testing when it comes to admissions decisions, according to a Commission on the Use of Standardized Tests in Undergraduate Admissions report published by the National Association for College Admission Counselling.The report notes that external factors can and will affect how well students score on standardized tests and also states that these tests do not holistically measure students? capabilities.?Access to test preparation will always be differentiated based on family income, school setting, and other variables external to the student,? the report states, outlining the faults it finds with standardized testing.
Since returning to Grounds this fall, University Judiciary Committee members have been working toward settling a large case overload from last semester.
