University Medical Center Research Prof. Barry Marshall was awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine over the weekend, making him the first current University faculty member to receive the honor. With the help of Australian physician Robert Warren, Marshall discovered that the Helicobacter pylori bacterium causes peptic ulcer disease.
Last night, state legislators and students met to discuss current issues facing Virginia's higher education system, mainly focusing on increasing tuition rates, in the Student Council-sponsored third annual ABC's of Higher Education"forum. Sen.
University Police arrested Martin Straume, an associate professor of research in the University Health System, yesterday afternoon on several criminal charges, including the attempted malicious wounding of a female University graduate student. According to University Police, the attempted malicious wounding of the graduate student occurred Sept.
Polls open next week for the University's fall elections supervised by the University Board of Elections.
The average employee healthcare costs at most colleges and universities increased by 10 percent this year, according to a survey released Monday by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. Although healthcare costs for current University employees have not gone up, University Staff Union President Jan Cornell said employees have expressed frustration with the eroding service. The University is self-insured and designs its own health plan, but all claims are processed through Southern Health Services, Inc. In addition to employees having to pay upfront for services, there are not enough doctors and dentists in the Charlottesville area, so many employees are forced to go as far as Fredericksburg or wait for Southern Health to find a provider in the area, according to Cornell. "Southern Health doesn't pay enough to get doctors and dentists," Cornell said.
Seventy scholars from around the world met for a conference yesterday at the University's Darden School of Business to consider the future of digital scholarship. The conference, titled "Summit on Digital Tools for the Humanities," is three-day event which began yesterday.
Three University students were recommended for the Rhodes Scholarship, and four students were named as nominees for the Marshall Scholarship by the University Selection Committee. Fourth-year College students Catherine Neale, James Kennedy and Ryan Fleenor were endorsed by the University Selection Committee to compete for Rhodes Scholarships. Fourth-year College students Lee Skluzak and Chat Hull, as well as Kennedy and Fleenor, were endorsed for Marshall Scholarships. The Rhodes Scholarship offers 32 American students the opportunity to receive two fully-funded years of post-graduate study at England's Oxford University, said Nicole Hurd, director of the Center for Undergraduate Research. The Marshall Scholarship is similar but allows for study at any institution in the United Kingdom, Hurd said. The students had to write a personal statement outlying their planned course of study if chosen to go abroad, according to Hurd. "I would like to pursue a master's degree in higher education," Neale said.
The governing body of the Multicultural Greek Council voted over the weekend to sponsor a new interest group that hopes to establish the first multicultural fraternity at the University. The new interest group, the Fraternal League for All Men, has been working to attain special CIO status for the past three years, FLAME President Anthony Peng said.
The American Association of State Colleges and Universities found in a study released yesterday that the most important factor for high graduation and retention rates is a "campus culture" that reinforces student success and promotes a sense of purpose. AASCU undertook the study in an effort to understand retention and graduation rates of students at public four-year colleges. "Higher education has long been focused on access, but lately there's been more of a demand to focus on success," AASCU Director of Special Projects John Hammang said. According to the study, the most essential parts of "campus culture" in graduation rates are a sense that students can succeed, an inclusive environment for all members on campus and a "strongly held sense of an institutional mission that recognizes the campus as 'distinctive' or 'special.'" The survey chose 12 institutions nationwide with traditionally high graduation rates or significantly improved graduation numbers within their categories.
After years of gyrating state appropriations, it now appears that the University is safely on its way to getting the financial autonomy from the Commonwealth administrators say is necessary to compete among top-10 institutions. The Board of Visitors approved a proposed six-year financial plan Saturday and delegated final negotiations on a revised Management Agreement that is likely to go into effect by the next academic year.
The National Institute of Health granted the University Health System a six million dollar grant for prostate cancer research Monday.
With the creation of new financial aid programs at both Virginia Tech and William and Mary joining the University's AccessUVa, many Virginia schools and schools across the nation are developing a new approach to financial aid designed to assist student need in higher education. Virginia Tech President Charles W.
Tom Wolfe will be the Valedictory Speaker for this year's graduation festivities, according to University Relations. Wolfe will speak May 20 during Finals Weekend 2006. Fourth Year Trustees President Jordan Levy said the Fourth Year Trustees committee chooses the valediction speaker and that the ceremony is unique in its connection to students. "The students get to run [this ceremony] rather than graduation," Levy said.
The Office of the Dean of Students called University Police to intervene when passers-by complained of disruptive behavior from religious demonstrators on Grounds Monday morning. University Police ordered the group to relocate, to not block the pathways and to tone down their demonstrations. The demonstrators, all members of the Woroniecki family, held large canvas posters bearing religious slogans such as, "SATAN RULES!
After six years of service to Charlottesville, the City's Director of Communications Maurice Jones will resign in October to join the staff at the University's Miller Center of Public Affairs. "I am going to be the new director of major gifts for the Miller Center," Jones said.
Virginia Blood Services kicked off the second-annual Crimson War Challenge yesterday among student concern regarding regulations governing blood donation from gay and bisexual men.
The University Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to replace the Sexual Assault Subcommittee with a sexual assault liaison Sunday night. According to sexual assault subcommittee Chair Derek Yeung, this liaison will be a single individual who will attend Sexual Assault Board meetings and keep the UJC informed of its actions. "We're trying to maintain UJC contact with the Sexual Assault Board and the rest of the University community," Yeung said. According to Yeung, the vote is the result of changes made to the Sexual Assault Board constitution last spring, which ended the Board's use of UJC investigators. "Now all investigation is done by people appointed by the Sexual Assault Board," Yeung said. Before last spring, UJC investigators helped the SAB examine cases. "As the Sexual Assault Board became more autonomous, our investigators stopped being a part of that process," UJC Chair Tim Ormsby said. Although sexual assault technically falls under the first Standard of Conduct of the UJC, cases of sexual assault are all forwarded to the SAB, Ormsby said. "Sexual Assault became its own issue, and the SAB has jurisdiction over that," Ormsby said. Because the Sexual Assault Subcommittee no longer coordinates the investigation of sexual assaults it became unnecessary, Ormsby said. "It didn't make sense for it to be a subcommittee anymore," Ormsby said. Yeung is currently serving as temporary liaison and, according to Ormsby, Yueng will most likely be appointed to the official post. "Derek is going to serve as liaison, he's been doing a good job," Ormsby said. The dissolution of the subcommittee does not constitute a change in the by-laws of the UJC because the subcommittee's existence is not mentioned in them, Ormsby said. "In no way does it mean that we're not interested in being a part of this discussion," he said.
The full Board of Visitors gathered in Madison Hall before Saturday's home football game to approve the six-year institutional financial plan and delegate final negotiations of the University's proposed Management Agreement with Gov.
