Recreational marijuana has roughly 10 to 30 percent THC in its dry weight of flowers, said Michael Timko, professor of biology and public health sciences at the University of Virginia. Industrial hemp has .3 percent or less. But the industrial strain, which was widely grown in colonial Virginia to make fiber for rope and other products, became lumped over time with the recreational strain. And both were stigmatized and suppressed in the early 20th century.
The number of births in Virginia continues declining, reaching the lowest level in years in 2017 — only 100,248. A decade before, births had numbered 108,884. Demographers Savannah Quick and Shonel Sen at the Demographics Research Group at the University of Virginia attribute the overall dip in fertility decline to a dramatic decline for 15- to 19-year-olds and 20- to 24-year-olds and a slight increase for 30- to 24-year-olds and 35- to 39-year-olds. In other words, many women are postponing childbirth, not choosing not to have children.
(Commentary) A new book entitled “Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects us and Undermines Democracy” questions whether Facebook is really a tool for democracy. The author, Siva Vaidhyanathan, a professor of media studies at the University of Virginia, argues that one reason why there is nothing like Facebook is the fact that its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, did not have a vision of what Facebook could be like in the future. The author believes that Zuckerberg simply decided to take an existing dating app one step further and change the world via engagement. He points out that Facebook’s enga...
They weighed in on how they think the First Amendment unfairly protects white supremacy. “Just in the past year, we've seen a variety of examples in which the term ‘free speech’ or the abstract concept of free speech has worked to the advantage of white supremacists and against anti-racist activists,” Ben Doherty, a research historian at the University of Virginia’s law school, said.
(By Elisabeth Becker, postdoctoral fellow in sociology) As a New York chauvinist born to a Jewish mother and Baptist father, I had no more expected to join a shul than live in the South. But there I was, in Charlottesville, on a whirlwind trip to find my small family (son, husband, me) an apartment, after accepting a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Virginia.
The Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses announces its 2018 AORN Go Clear Gold Award recipients. AORN partnered with Medtronic to create the award, which is given to hospitals – including the UVA Health System’s Outpatient Surgery Center – that successfully complete AORN's Surgical Smoke-Free Recognition Program. The program seeks to ensure a smoke-free environment for the hospital perioperative team and patients.
BlackDoctor.org, a health and wellness website for African-Americans, announced its 2018 Top Hospitals For Diversity, honoring hospitals – including the UVA Health System – that deliver high quality care while promoting equity and inclusion in their operations, programs, services and staffing.
(Commentary) When late U.S. Sen. Russell Long learned that the White House had killed an appropriations line item for a Shreveport post office, which was his own personal pet project, the Louisiana lawmaker picked up the phone and called his fellow Democrat, then-President Lyndon B. Johnson. The men had been freshmen senators together, they were old friends and they both knew that all politics were local. The resulting exchange, secretly recorded by Johnson from the Oval Office, is now housed and maintained by the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.
With move-in weekend for University of Virginia students fast approaching, a grassroots organization is increasing its staff to help get more young people registered to vote before November's midterm elections.
Gloria Graham, who works for the University of Virginia, says the Level 1 Trauma Center hospital is ready. Graham also added that UVA is working to make the weekend a period of reflection versus the violence seen at the university last year. “We don't expect to get instant grace for things that folks think that didn't go well in times past,” says Graham. “But what we ask is that you join us in moving forward and reflecting."
On Wednesday, the NEH announced $43.1 million in grants for projects across the country, including three at the University of Virginia.
Cody Nystrom, 35, is a venture capitalist who makes health care investments for SJF Ventures, where she is a managing director. For the UVA engineering alumna, it was important for her work to align with her values. “I was raised by two hippie parents in a remote area of Alaska about 45 minutes from Fairbanks. They would have probably died at the time if they had been told I would end up in a career in finance,” Nystrom says.
William Brangham talks with Kyle Kondik of the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
Alumna Tammy Snyder Murphy opens up about making a difference, her husband Gov. Phil Murphy and why New Jersey feels like home.
(By Katherine Firsching, a third-year media studies and English major) When I finalized my summer internship plans earlier this year, I did not foresee all the lifestyle adjustments I would need to make in order to become a successful adult in the workforce. I’d had summer jobs before – camp counselor, kayak shop booking agent, nanny, etc. – but nothing resembling an actual career. I figured it couldn’t be that hard of a transition. I was excited to embark into the marketing field and gain valuable experience for the future. But after a few days on the job, I discovered the college habits I’d ...
The 8th District seat is among the two dozen or so that could decide control of the U.S. House next year. With Reichert’s retirement, it has been rated a “tossup” by national political analysts. “I don’t think WA-8 is a ‘must-win’ for House Democrats, but certainly you’d think the Democrats will need to win many seats that are like it — open seats that Hillary Clinton carried in 2016,” said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a nonpartisan elections-and-politics newsletter published by the University of Virginia.
Talk of a "blue wave" being blunted in Ohio has been the narrative for months, but the close race may prove the Buckeye State isn't on totally solid ground for Republicans. "It's one more piece of evidence amidst a lot of others that this is a good environment for Democrats, and it provides some opportunities to the party in the fall," said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
Part of the Republican advantage in these otherwise blue states comes down to fundamentals. Even as New England has become bedrock Democratic territory in federal elections, voters have regularly elected GOP governors, if only as a check on big Democratic legislative majorities. “Combining that with the strong personal appeal of Charlie Baker and Phil Scott, it’s no wonder that not only are they strongly positioned for reelection, but also that they have crowded out potentially strong challengers from entering their respective races,” says Kyle Kondik, who tracks gubernatorial contests at the ...
President Donald Trump has been predicting a "red wave." Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said there's no basis for the president's predictions. "I think he's wrong, because if you take the last century, there's actually only been two midterm elections, the first midterm election of a new president, Franklin Roosevelt in 1934 and George W. Bush in 2002, where the president's party, the White House party, actually gained a few seats in the house," Sabato said Tuesday on CNN's "OutFront." "And it was just a few in both cases. It's extremely unlikely that ...
Balderson's likely single-point win "would still be a big under-performance of the president who won it by 11," noted Geoffrey Skelley, with the University of Virginia's Center for Politics.