(Co-authored by Siva Vaidhyanathan is a professor of media studies at the University of Virginia) In February, Airbnb chief executive Brian Chesky compared his firm’s defiance of local housing ordinances with that of Gandhi’s passive resistance to British rule. Meanwhile, a tweeter compared Uber to Rosa Parks, defying unjust laws. Chesky quickly backed down after widespread mockery. Companies acting out of self-interest comparing themselves with the noble heroes of civil rights movements is as absurd as it is insulting.
(By Siva Vaidhyanathan, the Robertson Professor of Media Studies and the director of the Center for Media and Citizenship at the University of Virginia) Last month, Librarian of Congress James Billington announced that he will resign as of Jan. 1, 2016, after 28 years in office. Filling this vacancy may not seem like the most pressing matter before President Barack Obama, but in fact the decision is one that could help define his legacy. He has the opportunity to name a visionary leader who can nudge the nation toward a richer, more open information ecosystem appropriate for a democratic repub...
Postpartum depression (PPD) is a type of depression that affects some women after they have given birth. Researchers in the past have identified the hormone oxytocin to be critical in the development of a healthy birth, maternal bonding, lower stress levels and mood regulation. Oxytocin is made in the brain and is sometimes known as the "love hormone" due to its effects. A study earlier this year revealed how the hormone increases the process of social information in mice, prompting mothers to respond to their pups distress calls. Senior author Prof...
About one-third of breast cancer survivors in the Appalachian region of the United States do not take potentially lifesaving drugs, even though their drugs are covered by insurance, a new study finds. The study included 428 breast cancer survivors in the Appalachian counties of Kentucky, Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. All of the women had Medicare Part D insurance that covers prescription medications. About 30 percent of the women did not follow through with their prescribed adjuvant hormone therapy, which reduces the risk of cancer recurrence, the University of Virginia researchers di...
Rural schools may face a heavier lift to get students from high school to college, according to an ongoing study by University of Virginia researchers Edward Holler and Ted Price. The researchers also found smaller schools provided on average fewer than five Advanced Placement or other honors courses to students, compared to more than 13 courses available on average in larger schools.
Bias against gays and lesbians is falling among Americans, a new study finds. “Many people have this gut feeling that our culture has changed. We wondered whether people’s attitudes were really changing, or if people today just feel more pressure to say they support lesbian and gay people,” lead researcher Erin Westgate, a doctoral psychology student at the University of Virginia, said in a university news release.
From the time of Plato's "groves of academe," gardens have been linked to the contemplative and scholarly life as well. Thomas Jefferson described the University of Virginia as a set of buildings "arranged around an open square of grass and trees." The Pavilion Gardens provided both a place in which to study and a subject of study. Jefferson wrote that "such a plan would afford the quiet retirement so friendly to study."
A new company based out of the i.Lab at the University of Virginia is spreading a message of clean-energy to the Charlottesville community. DreamPower held a seminar for the local business community Monday. The company wants people to know that energy efficiency is not as complicated as it may seem.
The University of Virginia hosted a unique forum Friday for educators and legislators from around the state. Organizers say The 3rd Annual Teacher Day helps K-12 instructors better understand the political system they teach their students. The discussions specifically focused on how to increase voter turnout and improve school systems on the local level. About 40 educators from Virginia and Maryland learned about politics at UVA from the people who live and work in government every day. Groups of teachers from around Virginia and Maryland became students for a day, learning politics ...
Sen. Chuck Schumer may be unabashed in his support for Israel, but he's also a key Obama administration supporter on Capitol Hill. He's hoping that when the dust clears after the 2016 election, Democrats will retake the Senate and hand him the long-sought title of majority leader. "If it's politically possible, Schumer would like to support Obama and his former Senate colleague, John Kerry,'' said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
A recent deadly incident in a Louisiana theater has sparked new calls for gun control, and the University of Virginia’s Larry Sabato is forecasting many recycled arguments on Capitol Hill. Sabato notes there were similar demands from gun control advocates after the mass shootings of the past decade.
In the hours after the Lafayette shooting, in which a gunman fatally shot two women and wounded nine others before taking his own life, Gov. Bobby Jindal again said prayers and hugs made for the appropriate response. “There’ll be a time; I’m sure folks will want to jump into the politics of this,” he said. “Now is not the time.” That didn’t prevent gun control advocates from landing on Jindal with both feet. The gun violence issue actually provides Jindal, who temporarily suspended his campaign on Thursday, with a chance to enhance his standing with th...
When Paul and Teresa Wieland, Catholic parents of three daughters, filed suit against the Health and Human Services’ contraceptive mandate, MSNBC ridiculed their legal challenge. But while the cable network framed the lawsuit as an attempt by the Wielands to ask “the federal government to enforce their parental guidelines on their daughters,” Wieland offered a different take. “My daughters are free to make any choice they want, but my wife and I should not be required to enroll in a plan that includes these drugs,” he told the Register. Douglas Laycock, a leading ...
When you have type 2 diabetes, a smart strategy for controlling your blood sugar levels is to think of snacks as miniature versions of meals and plan your carbs accordingly. Snacks with a good mix of protein, fat, and fiber will help keep hunger at bay and your blood sugar on an even keel throughout the day. "Since a meal should include 45 to 60 grams of carbohydrates, a snack should have around 15 to 20 grams," says Katherine Basbaum, MS, RD, a clinical dietitian in the Cardiology and Cardiac Rehabilitation departments at University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville.
Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Jane Marum Roush was appointed Monday to the Virginia Supreme Court by Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) in a recess appointment that bypassed the often politically charged selection process of the General Assembly. Roush grew up in Fairfax County, the fourth of five children of an elementary school principal and a Justice Department lawyer. She attended St. Leo’s Elementary and Middle School in Fairfax City and Oakton High School, earned her bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College and her law degree from the University of Virginia.
Doctors at the University of Virginia are among the first in the United States to successfully treat a high-risk stroke patient using an experimental procedure that spent nearly a decade under federal review due to safety concerns.
The historic legalization of same-sex marriage in the Unites States last month suggests that the nation has marched towards accepting members of the LGBT community. Now, a new study backs this, showing that more and more Americans have a generally positive attitude towards gays and lesbians. The study, conducted by University of Virginia researchers from February 6, 2006 until August 10, 2013, revealed that explicit preferences for straight people over lesbians and gays have decreased by 26 percent while the implicit preference for the same have shrunk by 13.4 percent over the seven-...
On Friday, the University of Virginia Center for Politics and the League of Women Voters of Charlottesville hosted the third annual Youth Leadership Initiative Teacher Day.
Hanna Kivlighan could have been in the heart of Beijing for how little she understood was being said around her. Almost two weeks ago it was the first day of a 10-day Chinese immersion program at the University of Virginia, and the rising Robert E. Lee High School sophomore was surrounded by instructors speaking nothing but Chinese.
The University of Virginia School of Medicine and the U.S. Green Building Council both were awarded a three-year, $1.2 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to boost efforts to foster healthy places.