The Supreme Court brokered a compromise on affirmative action in college admissions Monday, telling courts to look more closely at the justifications for such programs but keeping alive for now the use of race to achieve diversity.
Thirty years ago this month, when Ralph Sampson was the No. 1 NBA draft pickout of the University of Virginia, many observers thought he would revolutionize the center position. Chamberlain, Russell and Abdul-Jabbar had come before him. The basketball world predicted his would be the fourth head on the NBA’s Mount Rushmore of big men.
"If we required that the public be permitted to take a peek at these classified proceedings, we'd be giving that information to foreign powers and terrorists as well, which would be lunacy," said Molly Bishop Shadel, a University of Virginia law professor who once worked for the Justice Department representing the United States before the surveillance court. Instead, Shadel said, "we require transparency in the form of giving other parts of the government -- the judicial and legislative branches, who have different interests and different perspectives from the executive bran...
Dan Willingham, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, is a leading expert on how students learn. “Data from the last thirty years leads to a conclusion that is not scientifically challengeable: thinking well requires knowing facts, and that’s true not only because you need something to think about,” Willingham has written. “The very processes that teachers care about most — critical thinking processes such as reasoning and problem solving — are intimately intertwined with factual knowledge that is stored in long-term memory (not just found...
(Commentary) When Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia, he prescribed a specific course of study for its students. Included were works by John Locke and Algernon Sidney for “the general principles of liberty”; the Declaration of Independence for the “distinctive principles” of the US government; “The Federalist” for the “genuine meaning” of the Constitution; and George Washington’s Farewell Address for “political lessons of peculiar value.” The author of the Declaration clearly thought that laying out the principl...
Among non-HBCUs, the University of Maryland Baltimore County, led by the renowned Freeman Hrabowski, was the leader in the institutions from which Black graduates earned Ph.D.s in science and engineering in the 2002-11 period. Other traditionally White institutions that produced the most Black graduates that earned science and engineering doctoral degrees included the University of Michigan, the University of Virginia, and Harvard University.
This blog has reported a few times on robo-drivers for cars and trucks, a concept that has been tested with some success around the globe. It’s still a ways off for U.S. highways, but another application of wireless technology that’s likely to show up earlier is “connected vehicle” systems. The University of Virginia and Virginia Tech are partnering in a $14 million test of this. “Connected vehicle” technology means vehicles picking up road and traffic information and share it with vehicles nearby or headed in the same direction. Think construction, wr...
According to calculations done by the University of Virginia’s Regional Economist, Dr. Terrance Rephann, Waynesboro could receive up to a maximum $100,000 in additional revenue this weekend as an estimated 1,266 of the roughly 1,500 visitors, including kids and their families, are expected to stay in town for two nights and spend most of three days here.
A University of Virginia nursing professor hopes her project will create equal footing for millions of sexual assault victims in their fight for justice.
University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan said leadership doesn't just exist at the top of an organization. Sullivan shared some principles of leadership with about 260 attendees at a Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce luncheon June 19.
UVa first identified the phenomenon in 2006: Bites from the Lone Star tick, one of Central Virginia's most prevalent tick species, or chiggers, another common summertime nuisance, could be enough to cause a reaction to a sugar compound found in meat from mammals, Dr. Scott Commins said.
Larry Sabato, political swami and talking head, has looked into his mythic “crystal ball” and determined that PA’s own Tom Corbett is the single most vulnerable incumbent governor in the country. Once rated a “Toss-Up,” the race, say Sabato and his crew at the University of Virginia, now “Leans Democratic.”
Middle school students from across the state got an out-of-this-world experience at the University of Virginia. More than 50 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders teamed up for a "Space Day" competition, part of a two-week ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp held at UVA's engineering school.
These historic cases are consistent with Todd Sechser’s findings. Sechser, a political scientist at the University of Virginia who has undertaken careful quantitative studies of threat-making, has found that following through on threats “seems to carry few reputation benefits; to the contrary, it seems to carry considerable reputation costs.”
(Commentary) Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political science professor who writes the Crystal Ball newsletter, ranks Corbett as the most likely incumbent governor to be defeated for re-election next year.
Dr. David Brenin, chief of breast surgery at the University of Virginia, says the genetic test for breast cancer risk can be critical. "It is important to identify people who are truly at risk because there are things that we can do to decrease that risk at least to moderate that risk such as surgery or medication or observation," Brenin said.
The University of Virginia’s Center for Politics ranks Minnesota’s 2014 governor’s race as a “likely Democratic” win.
Robert C. Pianta, dean of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, said that if exams are good tests of mastery, results can be useful in guiding teaching, assessing curricula and helping students. “I can’t imagine not wanting to look at the data,” Pianta said. “If no one’s looking at those exam scores, that’s information that’s not being used, and that’s too bad.”
Geoffrey Skelley, a political analyst with the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said he couldn't be certain exactly why Dance lost Petersburg. But, Skelley said that one reason was Dance had reportedly suggested in The Washington Post that she would be "open" to a Republican redistricting plan. "That may have hurt her Democratic credentials," Skelley said.
Christie’s actions in the New Jersey arena could hurt his chances on the national level, said Larry Sabato, head of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. Sabato in an email said a conservative governor of a blue state is bound to make agenda compromises. “In this polarized, highly partisan era, nominees rarely come from states of the opposite party hue. Why? Because to get nominated for president, a candidate has to please the party base around the nation. To get elected in a state controlled mainly by the other party, you have to reach out to the other party’...