In The News

Sahar Adish Student who plans to attend medical school Afghan Women's Struggles, Triumphs Highlighted in Documentaries Department of State International Information Programs / June 25 http://tinyurl.com/yozed4 Rhyannon Berkowitz A Creek Indian and anthropology graduate student (MA Anthropology, 2007) Trail Exposes Hidden History of Va. Indians / Endeavor Aims to Refocus Perceptions, Studies of Tribal Cultures Washington Post / June 23 http://tinyurl.com/35k266 Karenne Wood A doctoral candidate in anthropology, a member of the Monacan Nation's Tribal Council, former Chair of the Virginia Co...

David Bearinger Director of grants and public programs at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities Trail Exposes Hidden History of Va. Indians / Endeavor Aims to Refocus Perceptions, Studies of Tribal Cultures Washington Post / June 23 http://tinyurl.com/35k266 Richard J. Bonnie Director of the Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy Mental Health Worth Studying, Too / Forum Speaker Urges College Students to Face Issue Head-on Richmond Times-Dispatch / June 26 http://tinyurl.com/2e34zy John T. Casteen III President of the University The University is preparing for its new UVA Aler...

As a followup to an April announcement by President John Casteen, the University of Virginia is launching a more sophisticated student notification system. University spokesman Jeff Hanna says the new security system called "UVA Alerts" uses E-mails, text messages and TV screens at various locations on The Grounds. These are designed to alert students and staff members about potentially dangerous situations. During their orientation process, first-year students will learn about this new system.

Virginia athletics director Craig Littlepage announced today the hiring of Eileen Schmidt as the Cavaliers new softball coach. A former standout player for UVa in the early 90s, Schmidt replaces Karen Johns who announced her resignation May 23.

LYNCHBURG, Va. - Randolph-Macon Woman's College will change its name in less than a week. But the Lynchburg school announced Monday that it's cutting its staff by 15 percent. The layoffs total up to 35 full- and part-time workers, as well as open positions that won't be filled.

BLACKSBURG, Va. - When the world showered Virginia Tech with gifts of comfort after a student killed 32 people on campus, it fell to Steven Estrada to find a place to put everything. He wasn't sure he was the one for the job. He had worked at the university only a month, as a temporary hire to do the student center's budget. The California native was so new to the state he didn't even know of Tech's rivalry with the University of Virginia.

Piedmont Virginia Community College is approaching its 35th birthday, and it has a new logo to welcome potential students and community partners. PVCC President Frank Friedman unveiled the new logo on Monday. It includes the tagline "Opportunity....Access...Excellence."

Soon, as provided by the state's Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act, UVA will be rolling out a University human resources system, separate from the state system, for new employees. At issue are salaries and employee benefits, and many are skeptical of the change. The new system will be informed by data from a survey distributed to employees and collected anonymously.

A 10-year collaboration between UCLA, the University of Virginia and the Politecnico de Milano produced Rome Reborn 1.0, a virtual 3D model of the ancient city as it looked on June 21, 320 A.D. The researchers studied information on Rome's topography, urban infrastructure, buildings and monuments, then filled in the rest using digital reconstructions.

...These are just a few of the women who come to the University of Virginia track on Saturdays at 7:45 a.m. this summer for the 14th year of the Women's Four Miler Training Program. The 12-week program trains women and girls 10 and older to run or walk one of the most popular races in Virginia: the Charlottesville Women's Four Miler, which crosses the finish line Sept. 1. Training program director Joan Esposito reported that this year she expects 1,700 women to participate in the training program.

... now that the 400th anniversary of Jamestown has revived interest in Virginia Indian culture and Virginia Indians are desperate to let people know they're still around, they're finding that most have no idea who they are, where they are or how to find them. Enter the Virginia Indian Heritage Trail guide, an 80-page book with photographs, a history of the eight state-recognized tribes, a calendar of events such as annual powwows and a list of 24 places in the state, including reservations and tribal centers, where the curious can learn more, or learn something. ...the Virginia Foundation for...

College mental-health advocate Alison Malmon, whose brother committed suicide while on leave from Columbia University, wants college students to look out for one another if mental illness strikes. "Look at Cho's roommates" in his senior year, said Malmon, speaking yesterday at a forum at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. "They knew he was off. They knew things were weird, but they left him alone. . . . Students see the changes in friends more than anybody. We can use what happened at Tech to open up the lines of communication....

If all goes according to plan, the University of Virginia will distinguish itself from its peers over the next decade by growing more diverse, more globalized and more public service oriented. Those are a few of the overarching goals of a massive long-term planning effort under way by UVa's Commission on the Future of the University. ... 'The charge to the commission is to imagine how to 'further distinguish the University of Virginia' and to create models of excellence for the U.S. and the world,' the report's authors wrote.

$5 Million NSF Grant to Fund New Minority Initiative U.Va. Community Briefed on Greener Grounds The Virginia Center for Computer Music is Making Noise Planning Commission Seeks Input on Preliminary Reports http://www.virginia.edu/uvatoday/

University Officials Accused of Hiding Campus Homicide Associated Press / June 23 For two months after Laura Dickinson was found dead in her dormitory room, Eastern Michigan University officials assured her parents and the public that there was no sign of foul play. It was not until a fellow classmate was arrested in February that the truth came out: Ms. Dickinson had been raped and murdered. Now Eastern Michigan's president and other university officials are being accused of endangering students to protect the university's image. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/us/24university.html?ref=edu...

It's a common fantasy-what if you could travel back in time and walk the streets of a bygone city, see the light play over long-vanished rooftops? For some people it's more specific. Bernard Frischer, head of the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the University of Virginia, has been imagining ancient Rome since he started studying Latin in eighth grade. "It was the first multicultural empire and city," says Frischer. "We always say the Romans were the Americans of antiquity; it was a society based on merit, where anybody could rise to the top."

Dr. Jim Bakhtiar A former All-American at U.Va. and player in the Canadian Football League who now works as a a psychiatrist Journal Honors Athletes, Coach of the Year Martinsburg (WV) Journal / June 25 http://www.journal-news.net/Sports/articles.asp?articleID=10246 Edmund Bertschinger Who did postdoctoral research at U.Va. Edmund Bertschinger Named Head of MIT Physics WebWire / June 23 http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=40334 Whitney Casey Who graduated with a degree in exercise science in 1997 Need Some Relationship Advice? Ask Whitney Casey Houston Chronicle / June 22 http://www...

Michael Britt-Crane A fourth-year student in the mechanical engineering program Robo-car designers compete for federal DoD prize Charlottesvile Daily Progress / June 24 http://tinyurl.com/3ajdtw James Erickson A rising fourth-year student Ice Cream Social Experiment / Students Reach Out with Treats Charlottesville Daily Progress / June 25 http://tinyurl.com/yv63fz Reilly Flynn Who will graduate from the Curry School of Education in December Ice Cream Social Experiment / Students Reach Out with Treats Charlottesville Daily Progress / June 25 http://tinyurl.com/yv63fz Mia Magruder A film st...