(Video) Gustavo Pellon, a UVA professor originally from Cuba, teaches us about this unique country, tells a childhood story, and shares a poem
The exact mechanism of SIDS – what causes so many babies to die in their sleep – remains unclear. One theory is rebreathing. The idea is that babies end up with an object covering their face, creating a pocket of air, forcing them to repeatedly inhale the carbon dioxide they’re exhaling, depriving them of oxygen and causing carbon dioxide to build up in the body. “There hasn’t been any definitive evidence that that’s what’s going on, but it seems to makes sense,” says Dr. Rachel Moon, Harrison Distinguished Teaching Professor of Pediatrics and Division Head at the UVA School of Medicine ...
UVA law professor Richard Re explains the supremacy of the oath in democratic society: “In electing oath-bound officials, the people are choosing – today – to be governed by words from the past. And once an official takes the oath under conditions that allow for morally valid promising, she becomes morally ‘bound’ to a constitutional course of conduct. This means, for example, that an oath-bound official has a promissory obligation to enforce duly enacted statutes, even when … those statutes lack democratic or other inherent moral virtues.”
UVA professor Robert Fatton points out that another of the elements that has been most alarming in the Caribbean country is “the way the president consolidated power.” In January 2020, Moïse dissolved Parliament and has ruled Haiti by decree ever since.
UVA Political Science Chair Jennifer Lawless said that Senator Ted Cruz’ hold this week on Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo’s nomination for Commerce Secretary is “not a good thing” – but it also could just be Cruz posturing for another presidential run.
Jalane Schmidt, UVA associate professor of religious studies and anti-racism activist, takes me on a tour of Charlottesville’s historic quarter, the site of the August 2017 Unite the Right rally and violent clashes between white nationalists and their opponents.
For its first-ever Super Bowl ad, DoorDash went hard on nostalgia, enlisting Sesame Street Muppets including Cookie Monster and Big Bird to convey the message that DoorDash can deliver goods from local stores, not just restaurant delivery. “Hamilton” actor Daveed Diggs gave the ad some pizazz, singing a peppy version of the children’s song “People in Your Neighborhood,” that morphs into a rap. “It’s a nice example of how an ad can blend entertainment for different generations and product messaging effectively,” said Kim Whitler, a UVA marketing professor.
Oat milk company Oatly ran a surprise ad that showed its CEO singing with a keyboard in a field of Oats that its product is like milk but not milk. But Kim Whitler, a UVA marketing professor, said the ad “is likely to stand out because it is so starkly different,” She added, “It will drive awareness because of the size of the Super Bowl audience and is clear about what it is -- and it is quirky. That might work for the target.”
The committee consulted several outside sources during its deliberations, according to the report. That included Kevin McDonald, former vice chancellor of inclusion, diversity and equity at MU who now serves in a similar role at the University of Virginia. McDonald said that his new campus was “struggling with that same issue,” having been founded by Jefferson, and that the UVA president had not yet appointed a task force.
During the drafting process, Warner, Hirono and Klobuchar’s staff consulted with civil rights groups like Color of Change and Muslim Advocates, as well as experts in online harms, including University of Miami School of Law professor Mary Anne Franks and UVA law professor Danielle Citron, who together run the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative.
The binge raised the eyebrows of campaign finance experts who said campaign funds are strictly prohibited for any personal use by the Federal Election Commission. “It appears to not be a legal use of campaign funds,” Ann Ravel, a former Obama-appointed chairwoman of the FEC, told The Post. Larry Sabato, a UVA political scientist, agreed. “It does warrant some scrutiny,” Sabato said.
Larry Sabato, director of UVA’s nonpartisan Center for Politics, has concluded after events of the past three months that America’s two-party system now has one normally functioning entity and another that appears “insane.” “The Republican Party is unsalvageable as a center-right party,” says Sabato. “You can’t treat the situation as normal.”
“In the 20th century, few would have thought this was likely to happen at all, much less that Virginia would be the first in the South to eliminate capital punishment,” said Larry Sabato, a political analyst at the University of Virginia. “This is a watershed moment. It shows dramatically how different the new Virginia is from the old.”
Presidential historian Barbara Perry says that despite Trump’s reputation for norm-breaking, racism and online bullying, the former president fulfilled many of the main promises he made on the campaign trail in 2016. ”Maybe more than most presidents, he made good on his promises,” says Perry, director of presidential studies at UVA’s Miller Center.
Vivian Riefberg, a UVA professor studying the economics of health care, noted that the federal government distributes the vaccine based on state populations. States then dole out the vaccine to counties and localities. When people receive a shot in a state that isn’t theirs, Riefberg said, “it confuses the allocation system.” It can also create the perception that people from other states are jumping the line and taking the vaccine from in-state residents. “It could create some ill-will,” Riefberg said.
The concept is called “passive immunization,” said Dr. William Petri, an infectious disease specialist at the UVA School of Medicine. Doctors have used antibodies in this way for years, Petri said, so patients might benefit from temporary immunity against a number of ailments. Patients bitten by a potentially rabid animal, for example, receive antibodies for near-term protection against developing rabies as well as a vaccine for long-term, active immunization.
Should we be wearing two masks? “If all of us could do the common sense thing of wearing a mask just to start out, that will go a long way,” Dr. William Petri with the University of Virginia explained. “The double masking may be a good idea because of these new variants that are more transmissible.”
Physicians with UVA Health say they are not expecting a spike in cases as students of all ages return to the classroom. UVA Health Director of Hospital Epidemiology Dr. Costi Sifri says national research suggests returning students to a K-12 classroom setting with proper health and safety measures – such as mask-wearing, social distancing and temperature checks – does not pose a significant risk, especially as teachers get vaccinated for the coronavirus.
Four members of the UVA faculty have been selected by their peers to be recognized for their teaching. The Jefferson Scholars Foundation announced the winners of 2020-21 faculty awards this week.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are spending more time outdoors. The pandemic has also sparked an increased interest in foraging for wild foods. This can lead to accidentally eating something poisonous. The Blue Ridge Poison Center at UVA Health announces the publication of a reference guide to poisonous plants native to Virginia. It is now available on their website listed as the Socrates Project.