In many ways, the University of Virginia is among the best places to be during America's worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
Today, I'm an English teacher. I really am teaching freshman composition five days a week this semester.
Last week, Student Council's Legislative Affairs Committee discussed plans to host an on-Grounds debate between the Fifth District congressional candidates during the coming semester.
Performing lines from acbeth on the stage of Shakespeare's Globe Theater. Eating gelato beside the Trevi Fountain.
22: number of first downs the Virginia football team tallied Saturday against Richmond in a 34-13 victory 19: total number of first downs Virginia notched in its first two games last season, which included a 26-14 loss to William & Mary 19.5: the point spread between Virginia and the University of Southern California for tomorrow's game in Los Angeles; the Cavaliers are the underdogs, if that wasn't clear 135 - 42: the number of points scored against Virginia compared to the Cavaliers' points during the three top-attended games at Scott Stadium (each of which was a loss) 24,355: total enrollment at the University in 2009, each of whom is hoping new Virginia coach Mike London can reverse the numbers for the above entry 76,461: amount in dollars of Student Council's budget for the upcoming academic year 116,000: amount in dollars of Student Council's budget for the 2008-09 academic year 5,000: amount in dollars of Student Council's discretionary fund, which will be used to finance cosponsorship opportunities for Council committees 26: percentage-point lead by State Sen.
The greater the risk, the greater the profit. As the mantra goes, those who take risks often yield larger payoffs, except when the risks become reality.
John McCain has simply gone too far by sponsoring Senate Bill 3081: Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010.
This semester, the University's Department of Parking & Transportation began making use of vehicle immobilization devices - not-so affectionally referred to as "boots" by most - as a tool for collecting fines that are significantly overdue. Boots certainly can evoke strong, negative responses from students.
Mark Sisson, the author of "The Primal Blueprint," captured my attention with his unconventional thinking.
Diversity. What does it mean? What does it mean at the University? Why is it a topic of conversation in every dorm?
During the past year or so, when University leaders have talked about the future of the institution, one contentious theme has emerged quite a few times: significantly increasing enrollment. Of course, moderate annual growth has been a staple of the University for some time.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident (Euclid), that all men are created equal (Mazzei), that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" (Locke/Hutcheson). A discussion about plagiarism becomes a bloody conflict; like most battles, the contingent outcome relies on strategic positioning.
Every politico knows an attack unanswered is an attack justified. We've heard it all summer: The White House has not performed well with messaging.
Upon founding University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson proclaimed in a letter to an acquaintance, "This institution of my native state, the hobby of my old age, will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind, to explore and to expose every subject susceptible of it's contemplation." This Jeffersonian ideal underpinned higher education at the University for many generations, inculcating within students a broad set of values that shaped the personal and social decisions that they made throughout their lives.
According to articles published in The Daily Progress and Richmond Times-Dispatch during the past few days, the University's endowment has recovered more than half of the $1.1 billion lost because of the financial crisis in fall 2008.
