Constitutional scholar Douglas Laycock, a law professor at the University of Virginia, said he would be surprised if most judges, or a majority of the Supreme Court would accept the argument that the religious exemption is unconstitutional. He argues the all-or-nothing approach many have taken on the religious liberty vs. gay rights debate has been counterproductive. LGBTQ students are free to attend secular colleges and universities or to attend religious colleges and universities and comply with their rules, he said: “What they seek, but are not entitled to, is to attend a religious college ...
Dr. Rebecca Dillingham, director of the Ryan White HIV Clinic at the University of Virginia, works with hundreds of people living with HIV. She said the updated legislation aligns with scientific updates to treatment of HIV, which, in itself, should be seen as a public health issue, not a crime. “The changes in the laws decriminalizing HIV are an incredibly important first step in ending discrimination and lessening the stigma experienced by people living with HIV,” Dillingham said. “HIV right now is like, should be like, living with diabetes or high blood pressure. It shouldn’t be different t...
Even though more people are being vaccinated in the Blue Ridge Health District each week, doctors at UVA Health are worried about a potential fourth wave of the coronavirus. “At most, about half the population has some level of protection against COVID either from vaccination or from natural infection. That’s a half glass full, half glass empty proposition,” Dr. Costi Sifri, an infectious disease doctor at UVA Health, said. “There are places in the U.S. – in Michigan around Detroit and the New York City area – where we are seeing increased case counts and those have been trending up for the la...
(Commentary by Nicholas Sargen, lecturer at UVA’s Darden School of Business) When Joe Biden was elected president, investors were divided about whether he would govern as a centrist or as a progressive. By now, the answer seems clear: Biden is seeking the largest expansion in the federal government’s involvement in the economy since Lyndon Baines Johnson’s “Great Society.”
(Commentary by Kimberly A. Whittier, assistant professor at the Darden School of Business) In the first quarter of each year, I reach out to different experts to generate insight on what lies ahead for the next 12 months. Below, David Fischer, Chief Revenue Officer of Facebook, provides thoughts on a post-Covid world including: consumer behavior, AR/IR, vendor management, disruption, personalization, diversity, resilience, and others.
(By Dr. William Petri, professor of medicine) It’s OK for fully vaccinated people to travel domestically again without quarantining, so long as they wear a mask and maintain social distancing guidelines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced April 2 in its updated guidelines for travel.
While a proposed change to legislation phasing out Virginia’s coal tax credits could benefit a Southwest Virginia college, another longtime regional agency is waiting to see the full impact on its revenues. Jonathan Belcher, executive director of the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, said Gov. Ralph Northam’s call to change General Assembly House Bill 1899 to allocate expected coal production and use tax revenue to UVA’s College at Wise would be a good move for the region.
(Commentary) It all began about a hundred years ago, when American streets were unlike what they are today. It was common to find horse-drawn vehicles, push-cart vendors, pedestrians and children sharing street space. As the number of automobiles increased, and the number of casualties rose, an all-out feud ensued between pedestrians and motorists, according to “Street Rivals – Jaywalking and the Invention of the Motor Age Street,” a paper by Peter D. Norton, associate professor of science, technology and society at the University of Virginia.
(Commentary) Researchers from UVA and James Madison University followed 165 adolescents as they aged from 13 to 30 to learn what best predicted who would experience satisfying romantic relationships in their late 20s and much later in adulthood. It turns out the best practice comes from friendships. The study's lead researcher, Dr. Joseph P. Allen, UVA’s Hugh P. Kelly Professor of Psychology, says the "greater stability found in same-gender friendships, allows for more long-term practice with the kinds of give-and-take needed to successfully handle romantic relationships in adulthood."
Next year, the census bureau will release new numbers for the nation, documenting, among other things, the racial makeup of the United States. But experts at the University of Virginia say there’s one big problem – the way the census counts multi-racial people.
A study co-authored by Kevin Pelphrey, the Harrison-Wood Jefferson Scholars Foundation Professor of Neurology at the University of Virginia Brain Institute, suggested that autism may be fundamentally different in girls and boys. Pelphrey's work is the latest in a series of recent investigations into a fascinating -- and perplexing -- statistic: Boys are four times as likely as girls to be diagnosed with autism.
Combining stem cell transplants with cutting-edge immunotherapy prevents leukemia relapses in young people and improves their chances of survival, new research suggests. The findings – published recently in the Journal of Clinical Oncology – suggest that stem cell transplants offer long-term benefits for young patients who get CAR T-cell therapy, according to the University of Virginia researchers.
UVA School of Engineering and Northwestern University researchers create a new polymer-based electrical insulation for circuits that could help put more power in smaller spaces.
A Friday report by the University of Virginia’s Biocomplexity Institute said – just as anticipated – a highly contagious variant of COVID-19 “has become or is very close to becoming the predominant strain in Virginia and the U.S.”
Tthe B.1.1.7 variant is close to becoming the predominant strain in the state, according to the latest weekly update from UVA’s Biocomplexity Institute. The institute warns that if the B.1.1.7 variant, which is more contagious, becomes more dominant, the state could experience another peak in cases this summer that would be worse than the January peak.
Virginia’s state lab, which has been ahead of other states in its ability to analyze samples for traces of a variant, is averaging about 100 to 150 per week. The federal government, which is pulling data from public repositories and its own private contracts, reported that just 8,500 samples were analyzed for variants in the U.S. last week. “We’re sequencing almost nothing right now,” said William Petri, an infectious disease expert at the University of Virginia. The state plans to execute contracts with the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech.
(Video) UVA’s Federalist Society hosted a virtual debate on the death penalty with former federal prosecutor Bill Otis and Carol Steiker, a Harvard law professor and author of “Courting Death: The Supreme Court and Capital Punishment.”
For the second time this year a UVA landmark is lit up for an evening. As part of the University’s “Brighter Together” show series, the Rotunda had a light show on display. Those in attendance said it was a great way to stay entertained on Grounds.
Mr. Farrell was devoted to UVA. He attended the University as an undergraduate and received a law degree from the UVA’s School of Law. Later, he would serve as rector and a member of the board who guided both its governance and fund raising.
When police shoot and kill someone, the officers’ descriptions of what they saw and felt – and accounts of the danger facing them or someone else – can be a major part of the defense, experts say. “In many of the shooting cases, the officer will say, ‘I perceived a threat in the form of reaching for a gun, or an aggressive move towards me,’” said Rachel Harmon, a UVA law professor. “It is difficult for the state to disprove the perception of that threat.” In George Floyd’s case, Harmon said, “there’s not the same kind of ability to claim a perception of a threat.”