In The News

James A. Aylor Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science Engineering Students Go Global Chronicle of Higher Education / June 29 http://tinyurl.com/ytun6h Gene Block Vice president and provost Block Prepares to Step Up / University of Virginia Provost Poised to Take Charge of Chancellor's Position in August UCLA Daily Bruin (CA) / June 24 http://dailybruin.com/news/2007/jun/24/block_prepares_step/ Gene Block Vice president and provost Yes, Virginia, He's Coming to Lead UCLA / Gene Block Is Leaving Horse Country for Freeway Central. 'It's Time,' the Biological Clock Researcher Sa...

The NBPA Top 100 Camp rolls on at the John Paul Jones Arena, and some of the best prospects in the country are getting quite the Cavalier treatment. They've been enjoying the JPJ facilities, living in the dorms on Grounds, and getting to meet some Virginia all-time greats. Jeff Lamp is one of the best to ever put on the Cavalier Orange and Blue. Second on Virginia's all-time scoring list, and one of the most clutch players in UVa history, Jeff works in professional development and is helping with the life-skills sessions being held at the camp.

Attempts to render gay and lesbian citizens of Virginia persona non grata evidently stop at the gym door -- or at least so says Attorney General Bob McDonnell. McDonnell, who campaigned on behalf of the state's constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, civil unions, and contractual relationships conferring similar benefits, has -- to his credit -- told the University of Virginia it may permit the same-sex partners of students and employees to join the school's gym. Or at least, such is the effect of his ruling that UVa can "provide a recreational gym membership to an adult who is not a sp...

...The 64-slice CT scanner is one of several multi-million-dollar medical imaging devices that have been placed in use in recent months by Martha Jefferson Hospital and the University of Virginia Medical Center. The whiz-bang imaging technology is allowing Charlottesville physicians to diagnose heart, brain and other ailments to an unprecedented degree. As a result, doctors at both hospitals are increasingly able to identify potential health risks before they become life threatening.

The University of Virginia's Miller Center will host a Monday conference that will focus on mental health and distress levels of current students. UVA Law and Psychiatry experts such as Professor Richard Bonnie will be featured, along with the director of Active Minds, Inc. That's a program that educates students about their mental health.

Both the University of Virginia and its provost, Gene D. Block, exude stability. The 182-year-old campus founded and designed by Thomas Jefferson is a glory of Early Americana in brick, white columns and flowering dogwoods. ...The school has been Block's only employer since he took his first job here as an assistant professor of biology 29 years ago. ... On Aug. 1 he is scheduled to become chancellor of UCLA, which is about a century younger and has about twice as many students as the University of Virginia's 19,000. ...Despite their differences, UCLA and Virginia have similarities. Both are s...

...however red-bricked and white-trimmed our town becomes, there are still only a few people who truly live in Mr. Jefferson's house. No, Monticello isn't taking in boarders. The rare distinction of living in an actual Jeffersonian edifice continues to belong to the faculty and administrators who occupy the 10 Pavilions lining the Lawn. Interspersed between 54 dorm rooms, the Pavilions were intended as places for faculty to live among the students as part of Jefferson's Academical Village, a community where education involved more than sitting in a classroom-- it extended to constant interacti...

Do you think your system has heat problems? Then, consider the challenge the military faces with space-constrained, electronics-packed, high-powered vehicles that must function without failures in extreme temperatures. A new program under the auspices of the DOD (Department of Defense) MURI (Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative) program will seek to attack the heat issue at the chip level. The $7.5 million project, which funds research at the University of Virginia [and four other schools] aims to explore microfabrication, nanotechnology, and system-control approaches to reducing c...

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory celebrated the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking for its first facility last week. On June 14, staff members cut cakes at Socorro's Array Operations Center; the Very Large Array; Green Bank, W. Va.; Charlottesville, Va.; and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, in Chile, said Socorro center Public Information Officer David Finley. They watched each other's events via video feed.

... Although everything may look normal to passersby, this particular car is doing something rare--it's driving itself. Tommy Jr., as the car is called, is the work of Team Jefferson, a Crozet-based robotics group with high hopes for its creation. Team members have spent hours ... to prepare the car for the Urban Challenge, a competition sponsored by the federal Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. ... Some of that manpower is coming from the UVa School of Engineering, a sponsor of Team Jefferson.

The navy blue Ford F150 pick-up truck carrying nine current and former University of Virginia students and their 3-foot cooler stopped in front of the Cherry Avenue Barber Shop in Charlottesville on a recent 90-degree day. "Free ice cream!" the students shouted to those seated on a bench outside the shop. ... The group's purpose? To unify people who wouldn't normally come together and express their faith in a physical way, said James Erickson, the ice cream truck's brainchild. 'There's power in sharing with people things that we all love,' said the rising UVa fourth-year who grew up in a low-i...

Three environmental initiatives - one of them decidedly homegrown - deserve recognition. Two months ago, the University of Virginia Board of Visitors committed the school to construct all its new buildings to high standards of energy efficiency. All buildings will qualify for certification under Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards. The decision means that construction will cost a bit more up front, but will save society and the environment in the long run.

Admitted - to College and Grad School Inside Higher Ed / June 22 The chancellor of the City University of New York floated a unique approach this week to dealing with the long lamented problem of low enrollments in the sciences: Offer promising students conditional acceptances to top Ph.D. programs in science, technology, engineering and math (the so-called STEM fields) as they start college. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/06/22/phd Senators Seek Compromise With Bush on Stem Cells Chronicle of Higher Education / June 22 Members of the U.S. Senate are making another attempt at persu...

Virginia Tech Expands Emergency Alert System Associated Press / June 21 Virginia Tech says it is rolling out plans for an expanded emergency notification system. The system will allow students, faculty and staff to be alerted to emergencies by text messages, e-mails and online instant messages. Starting July 2, members of the Tech community can sign up for the expanded "VT Alerts" system. It will be ready to go by the time fall classes begin on August 20. http://www.nbc29.com/Global/story.asp?S=6694727&nav=menu496_2_4

Melanie A. Adams Who earned a bachelor's degree in English/African-American studies Tale of Two School Boards St. Louis American / June 20 http://www.stlamerican.com/articles/2007/06/21/news/local_news/localnews04.txt Melanie Beauchamp Who has a law degree from U.Va. DUI Attorney Represents Modern-day 'Lepers' (Phoenix) Arizona Republic / June 21 http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/0621ar-duilawyer21-ON.html William "Billy" Emory Blackstone A graduate Columbians Elected to BGA Board of Trustees Columbia (TN) Daily Herald / June 22 http://www.columbiadailyherald.com/articl...

Richard Bonnie Law professor and chairman of the Supreme Court of Virginia's Commission on Mental Health Law Reform Va. Supreme Court Mental Health Panel to Focus on Commitment Associated Press / June 21 http://tinyurl.com/2guea2 Anne M. Coughlin A law professor Duke Case Is a Lesson on Justice Richmond Times-Dispatch / June 22 http://tinyurl.com/33ge42 Paul Crumpler Energy program manager Striving for "A Greener Grounds" at UVA WVIR NBC-29 / June 21 http://www.nbc29.com/Global/story.asp?S=6692660 Kenneth Elzinga The Robert C. Taylor Professor of Economics United States Supreme Court Set...

$5 Million NSF Grant to Fund New U.Va. Minority Initiative Researchers Develop Way to Restore Genes in Human Inner Ear Area's First-Ever 'Unconference' Draws Rave Reviews Eleven Staffers Honored for Hard Work and Dedication http://www.virginia.edu/uvatoday/

...on Wednesday, [Emeka] Okafor was one of several current and former NBA players taking part in the NBA Top 100 Camp at John Paul Jones Arena. The camp, which runs through Saturday and is closed to the public, features the best 100 high school players in the country. This is the first year that it has come to Charlottesville. Unfortunately, Leitao and his coaching staff, per NCAA rules, aren't allowed to talk to any of the prospects. Fortunately, they have a sparkling $129.7 million arena to do some of their talking for them. 'There's nobody in college basketball with better facilities than t...