Even though more than 55% of people in the Blue Ridge Health District are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, a doctor with UVA Health says breakthrough cases are still possible. The good news is health experts say that most vaccinated people who catch COVID-19 will only experience mild symptoms. However, they say the recent bump in cases is due to the unvaccinated. Vaccinated people can and are contracting COVID-19: “What we’re seeing is COVID asymptomatic infections or some very mild infections in people who are fully vaccinated, often in places where fewer vaccines have been given to the gen...
(Commentary) The latest salvo fired by the Republican Party of Virginia’s chairman at a University of Virginia professor needs to be called for what it is: political malfeasance and an assault on higher education.
It has now been a week since 55-year old Julia Christine Devline, a lecturer in economics at the University of Virginia, was last seen. Her white Lexus sedan was found on Saturday wrecked off Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park. SNP Specialist Claire Comer says they concluded their search in the highest probability areas on the ground, and have been working behind to investigate what may have happened. She says so far, they have no answers.
(Commentary) The major party candidates could begin with a discussion about the quiet but consequential slowdown in Virginia’s population growth. Though Virginia isn’t exactly axle-deep in ditch water, it looks increasingly like it’s in a growth rut. According to a study from the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center, “population growth has slowed significantly across Virginia in recent years, falling below U.S. growth levels to reach the lowest population growth rate since the 1920s.” People are still moving to Virginia. But more people are leaving, going to places like North Carolina...
Researchers for the EdTech Genome Project identified 10 variables they believe matter most to schools’ successful selection and implementation of new technology — a framework they say ed-tech companies can also use to gain insight into their K-12 customers. The research, led by the University of Virginia and nonprofit EdTech Evidence Exchange, aims to give educators and ed-tech providers a common language and context for talking about what tools do or do not work, a standard that can help inform future purchasing decisions, according to the report.
Researchers at the University of Virginia have completed the largest and most diverse genetic study of type one diabetes. The study examined more than 61,000 participants who were tested by their saliva. UVA's Dr. Stephen Rich says most type one diabetes studies examine only European ancestry but this one also studied African and Asian ancestries. Rich says studying diverse genetics has helped identify new drug targets to treat the condition that affects 1.3 million Americans.
Valley commuters who work in Charlottesville are in luck. The Shenandoah Valley Planning District Commission announced their new transit service, Afton Express. The buses will take people from areas in the Valley like Staunton, Waynesboro and Fishersville over to Charlottesville. Thompson says the buses will stop at the Fishersville and Waynesboro Park and Rides, along with the Staunton Mall. The Waynesboro Park and Ride at Town Center is still under construction. Once they’re picked up, commuters will embark on a 35-minute ride. In Charlottesville, there are stops at University of Virginia, U...
Dr. Babur B. Lateef, a member of the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors, said that achieving AGB’s first goal of having a fully supportive board committed to the idea of equity is critical to the success of their new mission statement. “In these polarized times, you can be faced with bad press about critical race theory or some nonsense,” he said. “But if the leadership is unanimously behind this effort, a lot of that press will float to the side. People give up when they know the leadership is behind it.” Dr. Kevin McDonald, vice president for diversity, equity, inclusion, and communi...
Mamadi Diakite is making a habit of being part of championship teams. The former UVA standout capped a memorable first season of professional basketball on Tuesday night by winning an NBA title with the Milwaukee Bucks. Milwaukee’s win over the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 of the NBA Finals added to Diakite’s rapidly growing list of team championships.
Players are pumped. Authority figures are nervous. But when it comes to new NCAA rules governing an athlete’s name, image and likeness, one thing is clear: Everyone’s muddling through this new world together. “It’s a challenge, for sure, but it’s also an opportunity,” UVA athletic director Carla Williams said Wednesday at the ACC Football Kickoff. “Anyone that tells you they’ve figured it out, I’m not quite sure about that.”
“I’m very, very concerned about the fall and winter,” Dr. Taison Bell, a UVA infectious disease specialist, said last week. “I can’t express it any better. The difference is that it’s truly preventable at this point.”
When Culpeper businessman Joe Daniel was in high school, he was a typical boy of the 1950s, he says. Consumed by sports, cars and girls, he spent a semester at East Carolina University, “pretending to go to college,” he says. … In the fall of 1962, the University of Virginia opened an extension service in his hometown of Madison, just 5 miles from his house. Working at a nearby gas station, he scraped together just enough money to attend. “I didn’t mess it up this time,” he says. Instead, he became an ‘A’ student, eventually transferring to UVA’s main campus, where he earned a degree from the ...
(Commentary by Dr. Paul DeMarco, Class of 1985) My reconsideration of history has been particularly difficult with one of my heroes, Thomas Jefferson. I am a proud class of 1985 graduate of the University of Virginia. More than most universities, UVA reflects the personality of its founder.
Experts said other factors will likely come into play, including the possible entry of other candidates and how voters feel about President Joe Biden at the midpoint of his administration. “Arizona is a fundamentally purple state,” said Miles Coleman, associate editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at UVA’s Center for Politics. “But if things get worse for Biden, it could look more like a fundamentally pink state, which would help Brnovich or whoever the Republican nominee is.”
Dr. Ebony J. Hilton, the medical director for GoodStock Consulting, LLC, and associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the University of Virginia, repeatedly warned that the combination of vaccine hesitancy, the refusal to wear masks, and the delta variant would create the perfect storm for a worsening pandemic.
(By A.D. Carson, assistant professor of hip-hop) Not long after the July 20, 1969, moon landing, Gil Scott-Heron – a poet hailed as the “Godfather of Rap” – released a scathingly critical song called “Whitey on the Moon.” While others lauded the lunar landing as a “giant leap for mankind,” Scott-Heron lamented the moon trip in his lyrical litany. He felt the trip consumed resources that could have been better put to use helping people confront the everyday costs of living on Earth.
(Commentary by Gerard Robinson, fellow of practice at UVA’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture) Almost nine out of 10 Americans – including people from both parties and independents – want elected officials to put aside destructive partisan divisiveness. But within this aspirational goal, one major partisan difference stands out. Far fewer Republicans than Democrats, independents or politically unaffiliated people acknowledge how racism impacts people of color’s ability to participate in our system of government. Differences by political affiliation far outweigh differences by race in v...
Believe it or not, it was the New York Yankees who brought together an Orioles fan and his Red Sox fan dad for a day they’ll never forget. It was “The Show” on the biggest virtual stage for 15-year-old Luke Post, a pediatric cancer patient at the University of Virginia. Five Yankees, including former All-Stars Brett Gardner, Luis Severino and Gleyber Torres, surprised Post on a Zoom call, where they competed in a game of the popular video game MLB The Show 21.
Savvy travelers know Charlottesville is home to more than just the University of Virginia and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello (though past vacationers said you’d be remiss to skip either attraction).
For the fifth year, the University of Virginia is hosting the Girls Exploring the Universe summer camp. It’s a free program for middle school girls that is designed to increase their interest in astronomy and science.