Ice ages are controlled by cyclic changes in the Earth's orbit and orientation, and calculations suggest another one should have begun several thousand years ago. In 2005, a team led by Professor William Ruddiman of the University of Virginia suggested that man-made global warming might be holding back the next big freeze.
Opponents of race-based affirmative action in college admissions urge that colleges use a different tool to encourage diversity: giving a leg up to poor students. But many educators see real limits to how eager colleges are to enroll more poor students, no matter how qualified — and the reason is money.
One of Virginia Military Institute’s seminal moments in history will soon get the big screen treatment. An independent film titled “Field of Lost Shoes” will begin principal photography on the VMI campus early next week. The film will be based on the famous Civil War Battle of New Market in which 10 VMI cadets died in a battle against Union forces. Six of those 10 cadets are buried on the VMI campus. David Kennedy, a Navy veteran who graduated from the University of Virginia, wrote the script for the movie.
Jarmere Jenkins had a chance to pull off a rare tennis trifecta this week, as he reached the final round of the NCAA Division I men’s singles and doubles championships and led his University of Virginia team to the finals of the team event. I first met Jarmere more than a decade ago, when I wrote a profile of his family for Tennis magazine. At the time, he was a precocious 10-year-old living with eight siblings in the family’s modest home in College Park, Ga. Tennis was only part of what made them special. Jarmere’s parents, Jackie Sr. and Brenda, adopted six of their childre...
U.S. colleges face a "perfect storm" of problems as tuition costs soar, opportunities for graduates sag, and employers complain they cannot find enough workers with key technical skills. One solution may be found in the growing number and quality of online classes. The digital revolution might transform universities the way the Internet has already changed music, publishing, journalism, retail, and other businesses. "This is pretty amazing," said the University of Virginia's David Evans, teaching an online introduction to Computer Science.
Researchers are sharing cutting-edge discoveries in children's health at the 25th Pediatric Research Symposium at the University of Virginia.
University of Virginia professor John Hawley and former UVa professor Steven Balbus have been selected to receive the 2013 Shaw Prize in Astronomy for groundbreaking work they performed at the school in the early 1990s. The Hong Kong-based Shaw Prize Foundation awards $1 million to individuals active in the fields of astronomy, life science and medicine and mathematical sciences. The distinction is considered to be Asia's Nobel Prize, and is awarded in categories not specifically considered by the Swedish institution.
Microphones need not limit themselves to listening to the human voice, however. John Stankovic of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville is using microphones to capture heartbeats. Researchers in his group are using earphones modified with accelerometers and additional microphones that detect the pulse in arteries in the wearer’s ear. This makes it possible to collect information about the wearer’s physical state, including heart rate and activity level, which is transmitted to the smartphone via the audio jack. The researchers even created an app, called MusicalHeart, that ...
But a psychiatrist retained by the government, Dr. Gregory B. Saathoff of the University of Virginia, disagreed with the defense expert’s findings, testifying in another hearing Wednesday that he did not believe Arbabsiar was suffering from a bipolar disorder.
Various research teams have been involved in a cordial competition to explain the science of capsid construction. One team led by Mark J. Yeager, chairman of the department of molecular physiology and biological physics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, did foundational research on how about 1,300 copies of the same protein chemically connect into groups of five or six to become the bricks from which the capsid is built. "It is gratifying to see this beautiful piece of work published with the insights into how we can do our next work," said Dr. Yeager, whose research ...
The nation’s state colleges and universities finally are getting some relief from declining taxpayer support, which has driven a steady increase in student costs. ... The University of Virginia’s state support is around 10 percent, though its endowment — at $5.9 billion as of March 31 — is the envy of even the best private schools. There has been talk of privatizing it, although that seems unlikely.
‘Tis the season of commencement addresses, and celebrities are in hot demand – especially celebrities with some connection to your school. The University of Virginia brought comedian Stephen Colbert to address the class of 2013, because he’s a funny guy, and because his wife went to UVA. Stephen himself, so he says, was not admitted, even as a transfer student. Colbert’s speech mostly hit the mark. As a former student, administrator and teacher at UVA, I’d have to give him a “B,” because his jokes about UVA were mostly the usual clich...
Thomas E. J. deWitt earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Manitoba and a master's degree from the University of Virginia. He also holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A in public management from Boston University.
The service allows local doctors in developing countries, who are often located in areas that lack specialized medical care, to send a request for specialist consultation. They can use the service to send X-rays, photos and patient notes to Swinfen. The organization then finds the most appropriate specialist from its network of 550 volunteer doctors who offer advice to the overseas doctors by email, said Dr. Karen Rheuban, director of the University of Virginia Health System’s Center for Telehealth and a trustee for Swinfen. “I can’t easily travel to Nepal or China,” sa...
For those taken in the draft's second half, a group lacking guaranteed contracts awarded to first-round selections, sticking in the league can be an uphill battle. Five years out, just seven of the 30 players taken in the second round in 2008 were still on rosters this season. Thirteen others who made a team at some point are out of the league. An additional 10 who were drafted never even played. It is against those odds that Mike Scott laced his sneakers on a recent evening at Old Dominion.
"It's pretty much a given that the first and second week are the hardest. And that's when we see moms drop off and not being successful with breastfeeding," said Katie Heck, a registered nurse. That's where the University of Virginia Breastfeeding Medicine Program comes in. It works with new mothers and babies, using the Baby-Friendly Hospital initiative, a global effort designed to promote and support breastfeeding starting immediately after birth.
(Commentary) It's true that, on average, minority students leave high school performing far behind their white counterparts. But selective colleges aren’t dealing with average students, only a tiny slice of the best and brightest. And here, according to Hoxby and Avery, there’s much less scarcity than anyone presumed -- an untapped pool of talented low-income students, many of them African-American or Latino, waiting to be recruited. A follow-up study by Hoxby and the University of Virginia's Sarah Turner showed that a little information can go a long way. They sent packets...
Nine years later, [Darden School of Business graduate] Adam Nelson can finally call himself an Olympic gold medalist. The American was officially elevated Thursday to shot put champion from the 2004 Athens Games, taking the gold that was stripped from a Ukrainian rival for doping.
In their book, “The Knockoff Economy,” law professors Kal Raustiala and Christopher Sprigman argue that, in some industries, loose intellectual property laws are a boon for business.