The middle class needs not just tax breaks and jobs but also marriage. This is the finding of a new University of Virginia and Institute for American Values report, “The State of Our Unions,” which tracks the decline of marriage among the nearly 60 percent of Americans who have high school but not college educations.

Often in a haze of illness, the schoolhouse gunmen are usually aware of the taboo they are breaking by targeting children, said Dewey G. Cornell, a clinical psychologist at the University of Virginia and director of the Virginia Youth Violence Project. “They know it’s a tremendous statement that shocks people,” Dr. Cornell said, “and that is a reflection of their tremendous pain and their drive to communicate that pain.”

Forget "Tiger Moms" and "Bringing up Bébé." Forget even the attachment parenting versus cry-it-out debate. To really understand childrearing in the United States, researchers with the University of Virginia say, take a look at the country’s “Four Family Cultures.”

Creative writing isn’t part of the curriculum at nursing school, but 37 students at the University of Virginia have compiled a book of essays on their experience – essays that helped them process powerful emotions and show outsiders what it means to be a nurse.

Consumers are feeling better about the current economy and its future according to a University of Virginia study. 

Researchers at the University of Virginia have developed a new computer model mapping the network that signals how heart cells grow in response to biochemical and mechanical stresses, such as high blood pressure or heart attacks, which can lead to heart failure.

Two Memphis University School seniors have created “Coaching for Literacy – The Assistant Coach Program for Promoting Literacy.” A donation earns a fan and his or her guest a behind-the-scenes game-day experience with a coach and tickets behind the bench. The money supports 25 to 50 motivated-but-underprivileged youth in improving their reading to grade level. University of Virginia coach Tony Bennett has agreed to do a game.

On The Next "Virginia Insight": Ever wonder what kind of fuel George used in his Jetson-mobile? Even though it does not look like the rest of us will be getting our flying cars anytime soon, some other changes are coming down the pike. Guests include Gary Koenig Jr., a specialist in energy storage research, including development of improved hybrid automotive batteries and  Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Brian Smith, director of the Center for Transportation Studies and chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Guest post by Darden Professor Robert Carraway. Big data and small experiments—what could appear more seemingly incongruous? Yet the truth is: these two trends, one from the world of analytics, the other from the world of innovation and change, can be powerfully combined to drive sustainable success in a highly uncertain world.

In "Sustainable, Affordable, PREFAB: The ecoMOD Project," John Quale, an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia, points out a startling statistic compiled by EPA regarding the environmental impact of residential housing in the United States. The average single family home emits more than 22,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year from electricity generated by utilities and appliances which is twice the amount emitted by the typical American car.

The new scenarios were created after some Belmont residents opposed replacement plans crafted by MMM Design because they did not connect downtown and Belmont. Filmmaker Brian Wimer launched a design contest to seek fresh ideas. The entire University of Virginia School of Architecture participated in the event. Afterward, the Department of Neighborhood Development Services worked with faculty to distill lessons learned from the experience.

The decline in alcohol-related offenses isn’t exclusive to the university community. University of Virginia Police also reported a drop in alcohol-related offenses, according to that university’s Crime Prevention Coordinator Angela Tabler.

Talk-radio star Laura Ingraham, who recently announced she was off the air to retool her program, today announced a plan to work with Courtside Entertainment Group to relaunch a national radio program starting Jan. 2.

Curry School professor Robert Berry III was a panelist in a discussion on the future of American education.

The Memphis Grizzlies announced the hiring of John Hollinger as Vice President of Basketball Operations and Stu Lash as Director of Player Personnel and Basketball Development.

The story makes mention of the Summer Medical and Dental Education Program, a free enrichment program sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The six-week academic initiative provides rising college freshman and sophomores from disadvantaged backgrounds with a timely introduction to the rigorous preparation required to pursue careers in medicine or dentistry. U.Va. is one of 12 universities nationwide that hosts the program.

A woman in Charlottesville has started an online petition asking Governor Bob McDonnell and the Virginia General Assembly to "vote against the confirmation of Helen Dragas" as Rector of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors.

Authorities are investigating the cause of a Nelson County fire that destroyed the Norwood plantation, a historic Cabell home, Sunday evening. The house originally was built in the 1850s by Mayo Cabell as a gift for his son, William, when he graduated from the University of Virginia in 1853.

Former U.Va. men's basketball coach and athletic director Terry Holland annouced this week that he would begin the transition to become athletic director emeritus at East Carolina University.

Emoticon-based friendships aren’t strong enough to act as a safety net in an unstable economy, University of Virginia psychology professor Shigehiro Oishi wrote in “Optimal Social-Networking Strategy Is a Function of Socioeconomic Conditions,” a study published last month in the journal Psychological Science.