After the 2021 NFL Draft, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst had indicated that, Aaron Rodgers situation notwithstanding, the Packers planned on signing more quarterbacks in the near future, and they appear to be taking steps toward doing just that. They’ll bring [former UVA star] Kurt Benkert and Chad Kelly to the team’s rookie minicamp this weekend, according to a report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
(Podcast) Dr. Bill Antholis, Director of UVA’s Miller Center, discusses the history of the American presidency and how the country has dealt with hyperpartisanship in the past.
While it’s hard to predict exactly how many students will home-school in a given year, Hamilton Lombard, a UVA researcher and policy analyst on demographics, says he estimates that around half of students who were privately educated and homeschooled during the pandemic year will enroll in public schools this fall. But, he says, “I don’t think it’s realistic to expect that all of them are going to be coming back next year.”
J. Miles Coleman at UVA’s Center for Politics says that while the Republican nomination process is confusing, it will allow the state party to get a better idea of who voters would like to see as the nominee. “It’s been a bit induced by the pandemic, you know, not being able to assemble in person,” he said. “The goal behind this ranked-choice vote process is they want to get a candidate who is broadly acceptable to as many Republicans as possible, and I think that the weighing by locality feeds into that.”
W. Bradford Wilcox, a senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies who directs the National Marriage Project at UVA, called the report “pretty sobering demographic news.” According to the report, the total fertility rate has been below replacement level “generally” since 1971, and “consistently” since 2007 – just before the global economic crisis of the following year.
June West, a professor at UVA’s business school, said the first focus of any campaign is the message, and the second is the audience. “There are a lot of people in America and a campaign must tailor its message to the particular community. ... And then that brings us to the third component, which is: What’s your message? And how are you going to frame the narrative? How can the campaign really meet the needs of the community?”
COVID-19 cases that occur despite a person being fully vaccinated are called “breakthrough” cases. While they are rare, there is roughly a 5% chance of a person developing COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated. “When a vaccine is 95% effective for symptomatic disease, that is by definition meaning that 5% of people who have been vaccinated still can develop COVID,” said Dr. Costi Sifri, UVA Health’s director of hospital epidemiology. He said the breakthrough cases that do occur are rarely severe.
(Audio) Heather Maxwell dedicates this episode to recognizing mothers around the world. Every song in the playlist is related mothers in some way. All but two songs are presented by friends and contributors of Music Time in Africa: There’s Bill Odidi and his crew in Nairobi, Kenya; Samed Gaida and his gang in Tamale, Ghana; Maxwell’s crew of MTIA fans from Sierra Leone, Malawi, Kenya, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and a team of students and resident artist, Tholile X Mathinda, at the University of Virginia, led by Dr. Noel Lobley.
(Audio) Heather Maxwell dedicates this episode to recognizing mothers around the world. Every song in the playlist is related mothers in some way. All but two songs are presented by friends and contributors of Music Time in Africa: There’s Bill Odidi and his crew in Nairobi, Kenya; Samed Gaida and his gang in Tamale, Ghana; Maxwell’s crew of MTIA fans from Sierra Leone, Malawi, Kenya, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and a team of students and resident artist, Tholile X Mathinda, at the University of Virginia, led by Dr. Noel Lobley.
May is Stroke Awareness Month, and UVA Health wants to ensure the community knows about the signs and symptoms since timing is everything. The longer the delay in finding someone help following a stroke, the significantly worse the outcome.
A recent UVA study found kindergarten registrations across the state dropped an average of 13% in 2020.
A weekly Friday update from UVA’s Biocomplexity Institute, which tracks the virus’ progression statewide, noted that “vaccination rates are the driving factor behind the wide regional variation.” UVA researchers said vaccine acceptance rates currently vary between 41% in the eastern part of the state and 87% in Northern Virginia. This makes the northern region more capable of weathering worst-case scenarios such as surges if residents relax behaviors and the number of cases linked to highly transmissible variants increases.
Virginia universities in the former heart of the Confederacy are reckoning with their past as students, faculty and staff call for the removal of Confederate symbols. Richmond housed the capital of the Confederacy from 1861 to 1865. Over 150 years later, remnants of the commonwealth’s Confederate history remain, including in academia.
This year’s graduation ceremonies may look more like a masked ball, but the pomp and circumstance will be more poignant than ever, with schools hosting smaller, in-person and virtual ceremonies, to celebrate the new grads.
4. The University of Virginia offers extensive opportunities in Animal Law study. What makes the program different is it includes one animal law class every year. Also, students get additional opportunities to find internships and externships related to the course. Established in 2009 by Bob Barker, it is perfect for people who aim to carve a niche in this career.
(Podcast; subscription required) This week’s “Ahead of the Curve” breaks down the University of Virginia School of Law’s impressive hiring cycle, which has brought in nine new faculty members, including plenty of laterals with sterling resumes.
(By Daniel T. Willingham, psychology professor) Before the pandemic, the average American child between 8 and 18 played video games for an hour and 20 minutes a day, and if my kids are representative, that figure skyrocketed this past year. Like many parents, I gave in to increased gaming time but gravely told my children they should choose educational games. Unlike many parents, I knew my rule made no sense.
Longtime Virginia political observer Larry Sabato, director of UVA’s Center for Politics, said that even if the Democratic nominee is Terry McAuliffe, a powerful, well-connected fundraiser, Youngkin will pose a threat. “I think McAuliffe has to take him seriously. I’ve heard Youngkin can spend $30 million or more of his own money, in addition to state and national dollars. This is real money, and even McAuliffe will have a hard time competing with that kind of money,” Sabato said.
A new analysis done for Poets&Quants by PayScale shows that the MBA – even from schools that lack global or national cache – delivers hefty seven-figure income over a post-MBA lifetime. And if you were lucky enough to earn your MBA from one of five schools – Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, Dartmouth or Virginia – your estimated median pay would surpass $8 million over a 35-year period. The bottom line: Despite the high costs of the degree, the long-term returns on the education are not in dispute. “Education should be a dream machine through which talented students come from anywhere – and go...
Dr. Ed Diener passed away Tuesday, April 27, 2021, in Salt Lake City. After completing his doctorate in psychology at the University of Washington, Ed joined the psychology department at the University of Illinois in 1974. He was a Joseph R. Smiley Distinguished Professor of Psychology at his retirement in 2009. He continued to conduct research and teach at the University of Utah and University of Virginia. Known as “Dr. Happiness,” Ed is credited with being a pioneer of research into well-being. For 40 years, Ed investigated the psychological concept of happiness. His measure of life satisfac...