In The News

Ask University of Virginia student Kathryn Nute to show off her newly acquired Chinese language skills and she's likely to exclaim: "Zhen zao gao!" "It means 'uh-oh.' I like to say it because it makes me sound like I'm a robot. Zhen zao gao!'" said Nute, who was sporting a nametag sticker with Chinese characters written on it meaning "Beautiful Buddha." ... Over the summer, a dozen students - including Nute - are taking an intensive nine-week immersion course in Chinese language and culture. Part of UVa's Summer Language Institute, the Chinese language program was added for the first time thi...

For once, the University of Virginia is at the bottom of a college ranking: UVa is one of the last in the state to computerize its employment application system. Next week, however, University Human Resources will launch Jobs@UVa, a fully electronic system for applicants and hiring officials.

... Couples think about the other obsessively -- on a roller coaster of euphoria when together, longing when apart. "It's temporary insanity," says Helen Fisher, an evolutionary anthropologist at Rutgers University. Now, from her studies of the brains of lovers in the throes of the initial tumble, Fisher has developed a controversial theory. She and her collaborator, psychiatrist J. Anderson Thomson of the University of Virginia, believe that Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil and other antidepressants alter brain chemistry so as to blunt the intense cutting edge of new love.

House Panel Studies Abroad Inside Higher Ed / July 27 As 'the world becomes flat' amid 'increasing globalization' and a greater focus on 'international education,' what is clear - besides an ever-flowing stream of buzzwords - is that as trade and travel between nations increases, so will the tendency for universities to expand into territory beyond U.S. shores. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/07/27/global Making a Hard-Life Story Open a Door to College New York Times / July 27 A workshop for low-income students teaches them that their life experiences can be as powerful as stellar ...

Aaron Brooks Who attended U.Va. Quarterback's Proposal Would Add 26 New Homes to James City County Newport News (VA) Daily Press / July 26 http://tinyurl.com/2xgbub John Fain A law school graduate UPS Freight's Fain to Assume Broader Freight Sales Responsibilities dBusiness News-Oklahoma City (OK) / July 2 http://tinyurl.com/2dzuta Steven Johnson Who received a Ph.D. from U.Va. Canadian Publisher Announces the Publication Chris Benoit Book Canada NewsWire / July 26 http://press.arrivenet.com/industry/article.php/1003158.html David O'Hallaron Who earned a doctorate in computer science Inte...

Louis A. Bloomfield A professor of physics Bright Bulbs Happy News (TX) / July 27 http://www.happynews.com/news/7262007/bright-bulbs.htm Susan Carkeek Chief human resource officer UVa Employee Applications Go Online WCAV CBS-19 / July 26 http://www.charlottesvillenewsplex.tv/home/headlines/8729212.html Cheryl Burgan Evans Director for Graduate Student Diversity Programs in the office of the Vice-President for Research and Graduate Studies UVA tries to increase diversity in its graduate student ranks WINA 1070 AM / July 27 http://www.wina.com/page.php?category_id=355 Dr. Russell Federman Di...

Larry Sabato A politics professor and director of the Center for Politics Founders Challenged Public to 'Stir the Pot' -- Then and Now Richmond Times-Dispatch / July 27 http://tinyurl.com/2gsoxx

College Science Success Linked to Math Preparation Creative Writing Program Among Best in Nation Retired U.Va. Professor John Graham Dies http://www.virginia.edu/uvatoday/

The $3 million face-lift of the McCue Center is expected to be complete by the start of football season. The building's second floor will include a football hall of fame area. On the first floor will be areas recognizing U.Va. players and teams. ... Most important, however, are the improvements to the locker room and training room, Groh said.

...Ten years ago this month, the University of Virginia's Center for Politics was created for what Jefferson called "the enlightenment" of the populace. Our programming has included a country-wide Youth Leadership Initiative (YLI) that allows young people to have an impact on the system. From a local program initially involving just 14 schools, YLI has since expanded to all 50 states, engaging well over a million young people today in tens of thousands of schools. Internet mock elections and electronic "student legislatures" have become standard across the country.

The University of Virginia will begin issuing thousands of new identification cards Wednesday, marking a major step forward in UVa's campaign to phase out its use of Social Security numbers to identify students, faculty and staff. Instead of Social Security numbers, the new ID cards will feature randomly assigned nine-digit ID numbers. The move is intended to better protect the university's 20,400 students and 12,000 employees from identity theft.

Recent books and studies seem to indicate disturbing sexual trends among evangelical Christians. And this time we're not talking about their pastors or political leaders. The new attention is on evangelical teenagers, who reportedly start sex earlier than their mainline Protestant peers. ...[U.Va. sociologist W. Bradford] Wilcox argues, in a paper for the Russell Sage Foundation, that the facts are more complicated and more hopeful than the sniggering media caricature.

Students who had more math courses in high school did better in all types of science once they got to college, researchers say. On the other hand, while high school courses in biology, chemistry or physics improved college performance in each of the individual sciences, taking a high school course in one science didn't result in better college performance in the others. Philip M. Sadler of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Robert H. Tai of the University of Virginia surveyed 8,474 students taking introductory science courses at 63 U.S. colleges and universities. Their finding...

The University of Virginia's Center for Politics, otherwise known as Professor Larry J. Sabato's baby, is celebrating its 10th anniversary today with a conference on "A Decade of Political Change." Former Lt. Govs. John H. Hager and Donald S. Beyer and seven state legislators are among the speakers scheduled for the all-day conference at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. Senior party officials, authors and academics also will speak.

UVa is doing away with paper applications and will launch a new online employment application system Monday. The university hopes the new system will make it easier for potential employees to fill out the application. Applicants will be able to create, save, and edit applications as well as receive emails about specific postings. The University says that anyone that needs help applying is welcome to come on in and learn.

The University of Virginia is trying to attract more minority students to The Grounds through an intensive language immersion summer program. Cheryl Burgan Evans directs Graduate Student Diversity Programs in the office of the Vice-President for Research and Graduate Studies. She says the goal is to show prospective minority students that UVA is a great place for graduate study.

Ideas to Shake Up Publishing Inside Higher Ed / July 26 Unusual study leads to proposals for university presses to collaborate, to broaden definition of 'academic publishing,' and to build online capabilities. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/07/26/ithaka Universities Should Support a Broader Concept of Publishing in the Digital Age, Report Says Chronicle of Higher Education / July 26 Publishing research is more critical than ever to a university's mission, but too many institutions fail to recognize and support it adequately, even as their presses struggle to find their footing in a...

Susan Calkins Who received a master's degree from the School of Law Maine Supreme Court Justice Resigns Her Post Effective Oct. 1 Associated Press / July 25 http://tinyurl.com/3acsar Kerry Fretwell A graduate of the University of Virginia at Wise Chesterfield Names 2008 Teacher of the Year Petersburg (VA) Progress-Index / July 25 http://tinyurl.com/256boa Dr. David Glembocki Who completed his fellowship training in dermatopathology and surgical pathology at U.Va. and was chief resident in the Department of Pathology during that time Caris Diagnostics Announces Expansion in Dermatopathology ...

Brendan Hogan PhD student in systems and information engineering A robotics camp at UVA gives middle schoolers a hands-on experience WINA 1070 AM / July 26 http://www.wina.com/page.php?category_id=355 Pattie Mathieu A rising second-year student As Potter Mania Fades, Fans Look to the Future Rocktown (VA) Weekly / July 26 http://www.rocktownweekly.com/rocktown/focus.php?AID=1624