(By Jennifer L. Doleac, assistant professor of public policy and economics) Citizens and legislators have called for police officers to use body-worn cameras so that interactions with civilians are recorded. Many hope that this technology will facilitate cultural reform, increasing officer accountability and reducing abuses of power. Unfortunately, the evidence so far is mixed.
In one of his final executive orders before leaving office, Gov. Terry McAuliffe has convened a panel of experts to explore how low-income communities in Virginia bear the brunt of climate change. The University of Virginia will take the lead, facilitating the group's meetings and discussions.
UVA students on Monday were urged to take precautions after officials identified two suspected cases of mumps. Christopher Holstege, executive director of UVA’s Department of Student Health, alerted students, faculty and staff of the possible appearance of the contagious disease.
“Jumping nerves of seventy-five or more students and residents of Charlottesville were at rest today after they peered at Mars last night through the big telescope at the University of Virginia’s Leander McCormick observatory and saw no evidence of mobilization for an attack upon the earth. The visitors to the observatory last night attempted to hide their fright with jests ‘about those green men of Mars,’ the monsters that attacked the earth in a space-ship, according to Orson Wells of the Mercury Theater and completely wiped out New Jersey with death rays and poison gas.”
Over the summer, Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed an executive directive setting up a Millennial Civic Engagement Task Force. Its goal: get millennials more engaged throughout the commonwealth. Zaakir Tameez is one of two students from UVA to be part of the task force. Forty students showed up on Friday's summit and met with the governor. One theme: better information about what’s happening close to home.
Legislation passed earlier this year paves the way for construction of a new hydro plant in southwestern Virginia. Some people argue the whole idea is wrongheaded. UVA professor Vivian Thomson says, "The fundamental question is, why is this large, expensive facility necessary? What are the alternatives to building it and what are the alternative costs in environmental health and implications?”
A conference at UVA last week examined current civic and political engagement by youth, and how schools and after-school programs can better foster this engagement.
Area transportation officials held the first-ever meeting of a non-binding governmental body that seeks to improve public transit in the community through comparing notes and relationship-building. Members of the board include representatives from the University Transit Service.
(By John Buffington, a double graduate of UVA) It didn't occur to me to be offended when Columbine, Colorado, became a synonym for murder. I have never been to Columbine. Charlottesville is an entirely different matter for me: I love Charlottesville.
“The three major metropolitan areas in the state (Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads) contain more than 90 percent of the total growth,” Qian Cai, director of demographic research at UVA’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, said in an email.
In a 2-to-1 ruling, the three-judge panel declared that the Peace Cross violated the First Amendment by having “a primary effect of endorsing religion and excessively entangles the government and religion.” Douglas Laycock, a religious liberties scholar and professor at the UVA School of Law, praised the decision. The cross “asserts the truth of one religion and, implicitly but necessarily, the falsehood of all other religions,” he said. “Its secondary meanings, as in honoring war dead, are entirely derivative of its primary meaning as a symbol of the Resurrection.”
Amul Thapar was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in March, and assumed the position in May after being confirmed with a 52-44 vote in the U.S. Senate. The seat that Thapar filled had been vacant since 2013. Thapar teaches multiple college classes at the University of Virginia, Vanderbilt University and the Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University.
(By Brandon Garrett, Justice Thurgood Marshall Distinguished Professor of Law) For 15 months, the lawyers appointed to represent Carlos Manual Ayestas in a 1997 Texas death penalty case did not investigate the facts to prepare for the trial. It took the jury just 12 minutes to decide he should die for committing the murder. On Monday, the Supreme Court hears arguments in the case.
UVA has completed its first successful harvest of hemp plants in collaboration with a private plant biotechnology company. The harvest – coming after the first year of a three-year, $1.1 million sponsored research agreement between UVA and biotech company 22nd Century Group – is one of several private-public partnerships across the commonwealth investigating hemp and medical marijuana.
A small pilot study has shown promising results from the use of focused ultrasound on Parkinson’s patients with tremors that previously had resisted medical treatment. After three months, the treatment, overseen by Dr. Jeff Elias of the University of Virginia, restored some fine motor skills and increased the quality of life of participants.
UVA students and faculty created a temporary addition to Thomas Jefferson’s vision for a living and learning community. The final product – a series of interlocking arches made of nontoxic, recyclable polypropylene plastic – is very different from the neoclassical style that Thomas Jefferson admired. However, Jefferson likely would have been fascinated by the technology used in its production.
A former dean of the University of Virginia’s law school has passed away. Richard Austin Merrill, 80, died Thursday in Albemarle County. Merrill was a Utah native who graduated from Columbia University and was selected as a Rhodes scholar in 1959. He joined the UVA faculty in 1969, and served as the law school’s dean from 1980 until 1988. The University will hold a memorial service for Merrill in the coming weeks.
(By Rita Dove, Commonwealth Professor of English) If I were allowed to rub the genie’s lamp, I’d ask for public support of theater, ballet and opera companies with resident troupes in our country. I’d establish art centers all over small-town and rural America and integrate them with school systems, making access affordable; high-quality live performances should not just be for the wealthy.
UVA professor Larry Sabato is an expert on JFK's assassination and authored the 2013 book, "The Kennedy Half-Century. He joined "CBS This Morning: Saturday" from Virginia to discuss the most interesting new information in the files.
Two UVA students are building a business that combines their desire to train young athletes with a wish amongst college athletes to make some money off their sports skills.