The Milstein Commission, convened by the University of Virginia to identify pathways for Americans to achieve middle class success, recently released its findings. The commission's report, "Can Startups Save the American Dream?" identified ways to jumpstart America's entrepreneurial engine by providing new businesses with access to capital, information, and support.
That’s the title of a recent book by Larry Sabato, the premier political pundit from Mr. Jefferson’s Academical Village. A More Perfect Constitution is a very informative read. Now that Larry Sabato is cutting back on his teaching responsibilities at the University of Virginia, maybe he could devote the next ten years of his remarkable career to promoting the modernization of this venerable document.
Chef and author Eddie Huang's best-selling book "Fresh Off the Boat" entered homes across the country as a new sitcom on ABC Wednesday night. The series follows a Vietnamese-American family that moves from Washington D.C. to Florida, and navigate cultural clashes. The title of the comedy has drawn criticism since it was announced. University of Virginia Media and American Studies professor Shilpa Davé explained the term's history. "Initially, it was related to immigration and people literally coming off a boat," Davé said. "More recently, it's bee...
He’s met with a transgender man, told Catholics not to breed like rabbits and washed the feet of a Muslim woman. While all this may sound like he’s ready to overturn dogma, Pope Francis’s real interest is geopolitics. In less than two years in office, he’s nudged the conversation away from abusive priests and used the image makeover to wade into conflicts from helping to restore Cuban- US ties to lobbying for a global climate accord. In September, he will become the first religious leader who serves as a head of state to address a joint session of Congress. “A num...
Seeking to provide universal full-day kindergarten but facing a strained budget, school board members in one of the nation’s most affluent counties have proposed an unusual solution: Make parents pay for it. Chloe Gibbs, an assistant education professor at the University of Virginia, said that most research shows that the benefits of full-day kindergarten fade out by the third grade. But she cautioned that some studies might not adequately account for the many students who attend full-day kindergarten but start at a disadvantage.
Attorney General Eric Holder’s Justice Department on Tuesday announced a $1.38 billion settlement with ratings giant Standard & Poor’s — the last of the big federal financial crisis-era probes. The settlement ends probes by Justice and 17 state attorneys general into whether S&P knowingly inflated ratings of risky mortgages bonds from 2004-07.  “The penalty terms aren’t transparent,” Brandon Garrett, professor at University of Virginia School of Law and author of the book “Too Big to Jail: How Prosecutors Compromise with Corporations,&rdqu...
Ayn Rand, author, thinker and political lightning rod, would have turned 110 years old this week. More than three decades after her death, she remains one of the most influential defenders of the free market. In her 2009 Rand biography, "Goddess of the Market," University of Virginia historian Jennifer Burns described how Rand's breakout book, "The Fountainhead," was "freighted with Rand's symbolic connotations." The story and characters made the book's basic elements "exciting and lively."
Paul G. Mahoney, dean of the University of Virginia School of Law, has been elected to the Council of the American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. Mahoney started working at UVa in 1990, served as academic associate dean from 1999 through 2004 and in 2008 took over as dean.
(By R.K. Ramazani, the Edward R. Stettinius Professor Emeritus of Government and Foreign affairs at the University of Virginia) President George W. Bush declared his determination to seek and support democratic institutions “in every nation and culture with the ultimate goal of eliminating tyranny in the world.” President Obama, by contrast, has decided to develop a method calibrated to each society in its own terms. He would seek to find effective methods of achieving democracy everywhere, to begin with the Islamic State Forces (often known as ISIS) in Iraq and Syria and...
University of Virginia Health System gave $259 million in uncompensated services to patients unable to pay for some or all of their medical bills in fiscal year 2014 – and the public hospital says its financial aid policy is fine the way it is.
Scientists at the University of Virginia have made what could be an important breakthrough in treating cancer.  They’ve discovered a substance released by lung cancer cells that enables them to spread – beginning their deadly march to other parts of the body.  Biochemist Marty Mayo says finding that substance, called Activin A, could lead to a simple blood test for certain cancers.
Fitch Ratings has affirmed its 'F1+' rating on the following debt issued by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia (UVA):--$78.6 million of outstanding series 2003A multi-modal general revenue pledge bonds;--$300 million taxable and tax-exempt commercial paper (CP) program.The university maintains a strong financial profile fueled by a diverse revenue base; substantial balance sheet resources; robust fundraising; and manageable debt burden. Fitch maintains a long-term 'AAA' rating on UVA's general revenue pledge bonds.
When two University of Virginia history professors explored the qualities of black leadership, their sources ranged from civil rights movement nonagenarians Oliver W. Hill and Dorothy Height to a millennial elected to the South Carolina legislature at age 22. Julian Bond, an icon of the civil rights movement, and then-colleague Phyllis Leffler sought out trailblazers, public servants and up-and-comers as part of their 15-year odyssey to create a high-tech oral history.
With the Obama administration proposing to build new preschool funding right into the Elementary and Secondary Education Act going forward, the expansion of government preschool continues apace. Even if Congress resists, the movement has strong momentum at the state and local levels. But the preschool push is strikingly similar to an older movement with little evidence behind it: full-day kindergarten.A working paper published last fall by the University of Virginia’s Chloe Gibbs investigated the impact of full-day versus part-day kindergarten using a random-assignmen...
A new multidisciplinary approach to managing patients undergoing a colorectal operation results in shorter hospital stays, fewer complications, and lower medical costs, according to research results published online in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Currently, patients undergoing a colorectal operation remain in the hospital for five to 10 days, and often experience significant pain and complications. In an effort to improve these outcomes, researchers at the University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, developed a standardized approach for colorectal surgical ...
The finance sector’s allure has held strong at the University of Virginia’s McIntire School, where 47.8% of students accepted jobs in the field in 2014, nearly the same number as last year, said Tom Fitch, McIntire’s associate dean for career services and employer relations. But students entering finance are expanding their horizons beyond investment banking to look at other jobs in the industry, including trading, investment management, and wealth management, he said.
While some students with an English degree may pursue a teaching career, others have gone into law, business, marketing or communications. English programs help students develop critical thinking and analytical skills, while improving writing and oral communication. The list below breaks down the top 10 places to get an English degree in the U.S. …No. 6: The University of Virginia-Main Campus is one of the top schools in the country due to its strong academic programs and outstanding faculty. Students at UVa have the opportunity to develop their understanding of their cho...
A team of researchers has devised a new way to target tumors with cancer-fighting drugs, a discovery that may lead to clinical treatments for cancer patients. Patrick Dillon, an associate professor of hematology and oncology at the University of Virginia who was not involved in the research, said that the new technique has potential clinical applications, and believes that "the use of novel drug delivery devices such as this will improve the experience of cancer treatment for an important segment of the cancer patient population."
The chances of Virginia joining the three states that have urged Congress to call for a convention of states appear to be decreasing rapidly as the General Assembly session nears crossover, Tuesday’s deadline for each chamber to complete work on its own bills.  “Conservative Republicans and the tea party have mostly embraced this idea, but it is opposed by more moderate GOP office holders and a large majority of Democrats,” said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. He is author of “A More Perfect Constitution,” a bo...
The overall goal of Enhanced recovery pathways programs​ is to minimize the disruption of a person’s normal physiology, Cima says: “Surgery is a major insult to the body. You have to recover from it.” Thus, ERP protocols are designed to keep your body functioning as normally as possible, says Traci Hedrick, ​an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Virginia and a colorectal surgeon at UVA Medical Center ​in Charlottesville​.​ ​They implemented ERP programs there two years ago, which has led to significant reductions in patients' hosp...