In response to President Joe Biden’s request to “end the uncivil war in America,” the UVA Center for Politics is launching a year-long national Civility Project.
(Commentary by Margaret Riley, professor of law, public health sciences and public policy) As an expert in health law, I am troubled by the unforced errors evident in the initial vaccine rollout. They include the refusal to use the full might of the federal government and the failure to learn from past pandemic planning.
UVA’s Center for Politics is launching a new project in an “effort to help lower the temperature of public discourse” in this country. The year-long Civility Project also aims to raise the standards of civic engagement, teach and protect the democratic principles that define life in the United States, and stop forces that are working to provoke and divide people.
UVA students are returning to Grounds over the next few days, just in time for classes to kick off on Monday. Students began showing up Wednesday, but most will have access to dormitories on Thursday and Friday with the majority of students expected to return over the weekend, UVA officials said.
Thousands of military service members will receive a personal expression of gratitude in 2021 thanks to the inspiration and dedication of a Smithfield High School graduate who is now at the University of Virginia.
Some 2022 election ratings predicted Ohio would not be competitive with Portman on the ballot. Kyle Kondik, a political analyst for the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, believed a Portman race in 2022would be “potentially competitive” but was likely to lean in the incumbent’s favor. Kondik tweeted Monday the race remains favored toward the Republican Party, but the shake-up provides an opening to Democrats “under (the) right circumstances.”
The pandemic is creating what’s known as mental health burnout. This can be caused by stress, trauma, and grief. Dr. Kim Penberthy, a psychologist at the University of Virginia has kept a careful eye on this. “This would, of course, increase in the likelihood that people would feel so bad that they feel like suicide is the only option,” said Penberthy.
UVA history professor Caroline Janney gives Lincoln credit for preserving the Union and ending slavery, but she does not believe historians should decide what names are appropriate for schools or buildings. That decision should be left to the community, she said. “The people that matter are the people that attend that school or send their children to that school, whether teachers or cafeteria workers,” Janney said. “That’s the name that they identify and have to reckon with.”
Many analysts says home delivery and surbside pickup are here to stay, but Timothy Laseter, professor of practice at UVA’s Darden School of Business, isn’t so sure. In his recent whitepaper, “How to Win in Online Grocery Part III: Did the Pandemic Change Everything?,” he notes that even during the pandemic, 70% of online shoppers went to the store as often as or more frequently than they shopped online. Therefore, to keep online orders up, Laseter says retailers need to create online shoppers out of their traditional shoppers and, at the same time, encourage online shoppers to spend more. ...
A social worker who teaches at UCVA’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy is lobbying Congress for school-based health centers that focus on mental health among other things.
Dennis Yang, professor of business and academic director of Asia initiatives from UVA’s Darden School of Business, characterized the Trump administration’s economic policies toward China on issues like tariffs and investment bans as unusual regarding past experiences. “Investors should have a sense of calm,” Yang says. “We’re very unlikely to have similar experiences under the new administration,” he adds, citing the U.S.-China trade war under the Trump administration.
According to the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, in 2020 lawmakers on both sides of the aisle made potentially unethical decisions buying and selling stocks with information gained from their positions. “This is about doing the right thing. This isn’t even a close call. This is obvious, and by the way it has bipartisan support,” University of Virginia Center for Politics Director Larry Sabato said.
Before they attacked the Capitol, Mr Hawley could be seen raising his fist to the crowd in apparent support. Larry Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, tweeted Jan. 9 that “many senators now despise” Mr Hawley.
The Democrats have a slim majority in the Senate, which bodes well for Biden’s confirmation progress. However, Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, a senior fellow at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, said “it is difficult to forecast the impact” of the upcoming impeachment trial for former President Trump in the Senate, but “it is safe to say that it will likely slow down the confirmation process.”
Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, tweeted: “45 GOP Senators just voted that Trump’s trial is unconstitutional since he isn’t in office now. Those who thought 17 R Senators would somehow vote to convict Trump have presumably awakened from their dream. As guilty as Trump is, Rs still cower before him.”
(Commentary) Dick Durbin of Illinois, the majority whip, told reporters that he was skeptical of invoking the 14th Amendment because it doesn’t specify how to determine whether someone “engaged in insurrection” and whether that determination requires a court conviction. As for the first issue, Philip Zelikow, a professor of history at the University of Virginia, argues in Lawfare that regardless of whether Mr. Trump can be said to have “engaged in insurrection” against the Constitution, he clearly gave “aid or comfort” to one by encouraging his supporters to “fight like hell” at the Capitol to...
Following through with the trial is also a way to enforce that elected or civil officers cannot avoid punishment by resigning or because their actions took place at the end of their term, said University of Virginia law professor Saikrishna Prakash, who is among those constitutional scholars who say the Senate can convict Trump. “An officer cannot terminate the process by just quitting and say, ‘Ha ha. You can’t get me,’“ Prakash said.
Dr. Ebony Hilton, the medical director and co-founder of GoodStock Consulting, LLC, and an anesthesiologist and critical care physician at the University of Virginia, has started a change.org petition for the Biden administration to create and appoint a “Secretary of Equity.” Comparable to a Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer of an organization, the Secretary of Equity would serve as a catalyst to initiate equity, diversity, and inclusion assessments and policies while leveraging best practices and resources across various federal agencies, Dr. Hilton wrote in a letter on behalf of...
(Editorial) Congratulations to Dr. Cameron Webb on his appointment to the Biden administration’s COVID Response Team. Webb will be President Joe Biden’s senior policy advisor for COVID-19 equity. He will tackle issues of racial disparity in both the spread of the coronavirus and, especially now, the resulting fight against it.
In a 2020 study by the University of Virginia, researchers compared walking in nature, walking on a treadmill in a gym environment, and watching a nature video. They found that there was no significant difference in the average heart rate between the walking groups, suggesting equal cardiovascular benefits. Essentially, a walk is a walk, and your body doesn’t know the difference between concrete, grass and a conveyer belt.