"McConnell is a master at navigating the legislative process, and the manner in which he is willing to use legislative procedure to achieve his outcomes is quite remarkable," Jennifer Lawless, professor of political science at the University of Virginia, said. The impeachment stakes are relatively low for McConnell as his chief mission is to keep the White House happy, according to Lawless.
The 2019-20 flu season continues to be more active than normal, with Influenza B the leading type of virus among patients nationwide. But patient visits were down compared to the previous week in much of the country, indicating the early Influenza B wave may reach a peak and start declining in the coming weeks, according to researchers at UVA’s Biocomplexity Institute who work in a research partnership with AccuWeather.
Some have drawn parallels between the current impeachment proceedings and those against Richard Nixon, who faced similar articles, but resigned from office before the House could vote on them. “In 1974, Republicans called the impeachment inquiry a witch hunt, a kangaroo court and a lynch mob,” said historian Ken Hughes of UVA’s nonpartisan Miller Center. “In terms of political rhetoric, 2019 is like a photocopy of 1974.”
“[Andrew Johnson] utterly failed to make a satisfying and just peace because of his racist views, his gross incompetence in federal office, and his incredible miscalculation of public support for his policies,” UVA history professor Elizabeth Varon wrote.
In February, Dr. Serwa Ertl, a UVA assistant professor of pediatrics, noticed Charlottesville needed a resource to aid victims of sex trafficking, so she founded the Charlottesville Albemarle Human Trafficking Task Force.
There’s lots of good news. One hundred percent of test takers from Duke Law and University of Chicago Law School passed the Cali bar. Harvard Law School and University of Michigan Law School had a 97% pass rate, and New York University School of Law clocked in 96%, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and the University of Virginia School of Law had a 95% rate, Stanford at 92 percentage passage, Columbia Law at 93% passage, and Yale Law had 91% pass the exam.
(Commentary by Richard Schragger, Perre Bowen Professor of Law) Dillon’s Rule is not in the Virginia Constitution. It is a rule of strict construction adopted by the Virginia Supreme Court that states that any powers exercised by local governments must be explicitly granted to them by the General Assembly. What this means is that if the General Assembly has not spoken on the issue, then local governments can’t either.
(Subscription required) I have been assigned the task of delivering terrible news to Virginia coach Tony Bennett. For guidance, I ask a few of his friends. Former assistant and current Charlotte coach Ron Sanchez advises, “I think you just have to tell him, ‘Tony, I have bad news.’’’ So I start with an apology. “Tony, I’m sorry to do this, but The Athletic has named you its college basketball person of the year.’’
After a stellar season when it won the ACC Coastal Division title, the UVA football team will travel to Miami to play Florida on Dec. 30 in the 86th Capital One Orange Bowl. The game will be Virginia's 21st bowl appearance, but its first in the Orange Bowl.
For the third time at WakeMed Soccer Park, it came down to penalty kicks for Virginia in the NCAA men’s soccer championship game. UVa had won its last two of its seven titles, in 2009 and 2014, in shootouts here. But the third time was not the charm.
(Commentary by Greg Jackson, 2013 alumnus of UVA’s Creative Writing Program) If the news covered only the proposal and passage of specific legislation – or the proposal and enactment of specific policy – we would have little news, and audience interest would quickly fade. But the work of politicians might become the work of governing. As things are, the job of politicians is to feed the emotional-entertainment industry that we call “news,” which is accomplished by grandstanding and self-promotion.
Denver and Christine Riggleman married in 1989 when they were both 19 years old and moved into her parents’ basement. Three years later, Christine got pregnant. In need of health insurance, Riggleman enlisted in the Air Force. After three years, he won an Air Force Scholarship to attend the University of Virginia. He graduated in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in international affairs.
On Friday, Lincoln Gray, professor of communication sciences and disorders at JMU and adjunct research professor of otolaryngology at the University of Virginia Medical School, spoke during the Graduate School commencement. Gray holds a joint Ph.D. in neuroscience and zoology, and studies hearing in humans and animals.
As a freshman legislator, Rep. Jim Banks, R-3rd, was the second-most effective member of Indiana's U.S. House delegation in 2017-18, according to ratings issued last week by the Center for Effective Lawmaking at the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University. The center scored members of the 115th Congress on 15 metrics related to the importance of their policy proposals and how far those proposals advanced.
Many political analysts believe McConnell is taking the smart and safe route by ending the impeachment drama as fast as possible. That’s because as of now the GOP is united against impeachment. The best way to keep things that way is to avoid possible explosive new disclosures and the political angst that comes with them, according to experts. Larry Sabato, director of UVA’s Center for Politics, agreed: “They’re stepping all over their own candidates, and that should be a major worry.”
As Brindisi begins his week, he will be the focus of attention on Capitol Hill as one of a handful of vulnerable Democrats who may defect on the impeachment vote. “It makes sense to me that Katko and Brindisi would be two of the more interesting votes on impeachment,” said Kyle Kondik, who analyzes House races at UVA’s Center for Politics. “Arguably, each one has the incentive to vote against their own party.”
“Given Rhode Island’s political culture, there’s a tendency to conclude that the male-dominated government is a result of gender discrimination on the part of voters, donors and even the media,” said Jennifer Lawless, a UVA professor of political science. “The good news is, none of that’s true. Sure, there are sexist voters, sexist donors and sexist reporters. But systematically, when women run for office, they raise just as much money and garner just as many votes as men.”
A new paper from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, titled “Hedge Fund Alpha: Cycle or Sunset?,” has found that risk-adjusted excess returns for hedge funds have averaged -0.8% over the last 10 years. It marked a “strong decline” from the 15-year period preceding the crisis, during which the average hedge fund manager was able to add 3.4% in net risk-adjusted returns. Author Rodney Sullivan, executive director of Darden’s Richard A. Mayo Center for Asset Management and former vice president of AQR Capital Management, repeated the analysis by focusing just on equity he...
The promise of reparations to atone for historical ties to slavery is new territory in a reckoning at U.S. colleges. Colleges are looking to make amends as they confront modern issues of equality and historical entanglements. At least 56 universities have joined a University of Virginia-led consortium to explore their ties to slavery and share research and strategies.
On Thursday, students at UVA’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy helped give out thousands of dollars to community nonprofits.