In The News

Let There Be Light: Annual Lighting of the Lawn is Thursday Come and share in the electrifying splendor as the Academical Village is set aglow during the seventh annual Lighting of the Lawn at 6 p.m. on Thursday. Attendees are asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy as a donation for Toys for Tots. Holiday Open House at Carr's Hill Today U.Va. faculty, staff and students are invited to a holiday open house, hosted by University President and Mrs. John T. Casteen III, at Carr's Hill today from 3 to 6 p.m. U.Va. Grad Student Honored for Research Computer science graduate student Joy Kamunyori's r...

Bringing the Group AAA high school football championships back to Charlottesville is a big deal. It's big for the University of Virginia. It's big for the Virginia High School League. But mostly, it's big for the kids. ...Nearly a quarter of a century has passed since UVa hosted state championship football games, but it's something the VHSL would like to see become tradition. 'So many people have said that this is where the VHSL state championship ought to be,' said the organization's executive director Ken Tilley. '[Scott Stadium] is a showplace. It's where people dream about playing. ...

Fifteen University of Virginia students staged a "die-in" protest Friday at the Bank of America on University Avenue to denounce the bank's investment in coal companies. The protesters said the coal-fired power plants financed by the bank are polluting the environment, causing health problems and contributing to global warming. "We want to save our mountains, our streams and our air," said Dana Richards, a third-year UVa student studying environmental science and Spanish.

...University of Virginia researcher Manuel Lerdau and State University of New York scientist Jonathan Hickman believe that kudzu is emitting sizable amounts of ground-level ozone - potentially increasing smog, aggravating respiratory ailments and quickening the pace of global climate change. 'No one likes kudzu,' said Lerdau, director of UVa's Blandy Experimental Farm in Clarke County. 'If we're right, then it'll be one more big reason to dislike kudzu.'

PACEM, a group that provides shelter to Charlottesville's homeless, is teaming up with UVa Medical Center to provide medical exams. The group will provide medical checks, flu shots and other vaccines to area homeless twice a year. ...All health services provided through UVa Medical Center are administered by volunteer doctors, nurses and healthcare students.

For the first time in 13 years, Virginia's football team is headed to a New Year's Day bowl game. The Cavaliers (9-3) accepted an invitation Sunday to play Texas Tech (8-4) in the Gator Bowl, a contest held annually in Jacksonville, Fla. ...the Cavaliers' lone previous trip to the contest was in 1991.

Engineering Students' Competition Proves to be Serious Fun Students in Kathryn Thornton's Introduction to Aerospace Engineering class put their designs of a lighter-than-air craft to the test -- hauling a payload around a figure-8 course -- in a first-ever competition, held at U.Va. on Nov. 27. Construction to Begin Soon for New Graduate Center To meet the growing demand for study, teaching and office space, the Jefferson Scholars Foundation has announced that construction will begin soon on a new Center for Jefferson Fellows. U.Va. Doctor Streamlines Medical Billing Dr. Scott Strayer and ...

Zenia Helbig Doctoral student studying religious violence in the Islamic world who joined the controversial U.S. Army Human Terrain Team program to embed social scientists into combat units to give battlefield commanders a set of cultural advisers. She argued in front of an ethics panel of the American Anthropological Association that it would be better for Iraq if people with knowledge of the region became involved.

Andrea Douglas Curator of the William Christenberry exhibit, "Site/Possession," at the U.Va. Art Museum Southern obsessions: A day at the museum (part 2) The Hook / Nov. 29 http://www.readthehook.com/stories/2007/11/29/CULT-artfeature-0648.rtf.aspx Dr. Russ Federman Director of Counseling and Psychological Services Addressing College Mental Healthcare WVIR NBC-29 / Nov. 28 http://www.nbc29.com/Global/story.asp?S=7424203&nav=menu496_2_3 Dr. Robin Felder Professor of pathology Regulations on Common Food Ingredient WCAV CBS-19 / Nov. 29 http://www.charlottesvillenewsplex.tv/healthwatch/headli...

...Finalists for the Dudley Award, in alphabetical order, are Virginia Tech linebacker Xavier Adibi, University of Richmond tailback Tim Hightower and University of Virginia defensive end Chris Long. This award, named after former U.Va. star "Bullet" Bill Dudley, goes to the player of the year from state Division I-A and I-AA schools.

...Harold B. Wright has received the Paul Goodloe McIntire Citizenship Award for, among other things, his 24-year record of dedication to the 'Children's Miracle Network Telethon.' That event has raised a total of about $20 million for the University of Virginia Children's Hospital and for pediatric patients across Central Virginia. ...Mr. Wright's community-minded service has not ended there. He has served on the UVa Children's Hospital Committee and UVa Health System Community Relations Committee.

University of Virginia tight end Tom Santi, named to the all-ACC second team Monday, was honored again yesterday. Santi received the James E. Tatum Award, which is given annually to the top senior student-athlete among the ACC's football players. ...Santi, who's from Nashville, Tenn., has a 3.35 career grade-point average in sociology, his major. He's also the co-founder of "Athletes Committed to Community and Education." This community-service program's goal is to promote academic achievement, support character education and develop leadership qualities. ...Santi is the fourth U.Va. player to...

UVa law professor Michael J. Klarman stopped by CBS19 News at 5 today. Klarman is the author of a new book "Unfinished Business: Racial Equality in America," which traces the history of race relations through the justice system. Klarman argues that America has not made steady, constant progress in regards to racial equality; but instead, it has had many false starts and regressions. Klarman outlined the ways diifferent racial groups have developed through legal history, and their success at assimilating in the American "melting pot" culture. Professor Klarman says finding a solution to racial ...

A new study has found that women feel they have to work harder than men in a workplace. Sociologists Elizabeth Gorman of the University of Virginia and Julie Kmec of Washington State University, carried out five different surveys given in different years, to different groups of men and women in Britain and the United States. They discovered that a gender gap persisted in ratings of the statement: "My job requires that I work very hard,' with women significantly more likely to say they strongly agreed. 'Between a man and a woman who hold the same job, shoulder the same burdens at home and have ...

Zenia Helbig Former doctoral student studying religious violence in the Islamic world who joined the controversial U.S. Army Human Terrain Team program to embed social scientists into combat units to give battlefield commanders a set of cultural advisers Army Social Scientists Calm Afghanistan, Make Enemies at Home Wired News / Nov. 29 http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2007/11/human_terrain John Strangfeld 1977 graduate, and now president of board of trustees, of the Darden School of Business, just named CEO of Prudential Financial Prudential announces Strangfeld as new CEO Associa...

Fraser Henderson College student and member of the U.Va. Ballroom Dance Club UVa's dance club wants you to be ballroom star Charlottesville Daily Progress / Nov. 29 http://tinyurl.com/3c33xg J. P. Stroman College student Eye on the Ball Column: Fencing is a good choice for relieving both mental and physical stress Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star / Nov. 29 http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/112007/11292007/336869

Chris Long Defensive end named ACC defensive player of the year by 69 of the 71 voters, and named a finalist for the Ted Hendricks Defensive End of the Year Award It's Long, in a landslide / U.Va. star is ACC's top defender; Ryan is player of the year Richmond Times-Dispatch / Nov. 29 http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/sports.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-11-29-0165.html and Ryan, Long top ACC players Associated Press / Nov. 28 http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/sports/colleges.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-11-28-0197.html and Long earns 1st postseason trophy / Virginia star named ACC's top defender,...