The qualified immunity doctrine has evolved in a series of court decisions, said Rachel Harmon, a professor at UVA’s School of Law and author of the forthcoming book, “The Law of the Police.” “Over the last 10 years, [court decisions have] made it increasingly difficult to overcome qualified immunity,” she said. Now qualified immunity “protects all but plainly incompetent officers or officers who knowingly violate the law,” she said.
Many activities – from concerts to church to doctor visits – can now be experienced from the safe bubble of our vehicles. Experiencing life via automobile has long been a part of America. But the evolution of car culture has had a lot of “twists and turns,” said Peter Norton, an associate professor in UVA’s Department of Engineering and Society.
There’s no doubt that many colleges have become increasingly out of reach for many students. But this year, the precarious financial health of colleges, competition for a smaller number of domestic students, and historically low borrowing rates make for a “buyer’s market” for many college students. Some colleges are getting creative. The University of Virginia is even throwing in a January term course and a course in the first summer session of 2021, at no additional cost.
Dave Johnson is the founder of Icarus Medical, a new biomedical manufacturer located in downtown Charlottesville that manufactures light weight knee and joint braces using 3-D printing technology. With his engineering background from the University of Virginia, he spent five years working and developing a brace that uses adjustable tension with elastic bands to counter the pressure that is usually placed on the knees when they bend.
Archie L. Holmes has been selected as the next executive vice chancellor of academic affairs for the University of Texas System. Holmes has been serving as associate provost at the University of Virginia since 2013. Since 2007, he was a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the university.
Professor of economics at the University of Virginia Ed Burton joined the show to discuss the latest news on the economy.
The idea of a blockbuster like “Mulan” opening in theaters overseas but not in the US was inconceivable only a few months ago. The move could be a “transformative” moment for Hollywood, according to Aynne Kokas, an associate professor at the University of Virginia and author of “Hollywood Made In China.” “The U.S. is the largest box-office market in the world. It likely will not maintain that title this year if the COVID restrictions continue,” Kokas said.
After a long summer and two weeks of virtual instruction, UVA students are finally stepping back on Grounds for that in-person experience that the university has worked to pull off. In-person instruction kicks off Tuesday.
“A Biden administration promises an ambitious family policy agenda,” said W. Bradford Wilcox, a UVA sociologist and director of The National Marriage Project, who is also an Institute for Family Studies scholar. “Their intentions seem good and they recognize that working families need help today. But many of their policies would push us in a direction that devalues the work of caring for young children in the home in favor of a vision that privileges the role of the state and the market when it comes to caring for kids.”
“The Trump administration was a disappointment when it came to family policy,” said W. Bradford Wilcox, a UVA sociologist and director of The National Marriage Project and an Institute for Family Studies scholar, who typically champions moderate and conservative policy. “We made limited progress on the child tax credit, but otherwise the Trump administration failed to deliver on key family policy objectives like paid parental leave.”
The American Heart Association has honored a doctor and professor at the University of Virginia School of Medicine for his work on high blood pressure. Dr. Robert M. Carey has been named a Distinguished Scientist of the American Heart Association for his contributions to cardiovascular research.
Money can solve plenty of problems, but is cancel culture one of them? Meredith Clark, an assistant professor of the Black experience in U.S. media at the University of Virginia, thinks Barstool Sports founder Portnoy is right when he says that the megarich are still uncancelable. Rowling, after all, doubled down, releasing another essay in July about trans women and biological women being different. “J.K. Rowling is definitely insulated by virtue of her wealth. You’ve seen even folks like Daniel Radcliffe say he can’t be aligned with her, and she’s still holding on,” Clark says.
As lockdown orders took hold across the nation, Lalin Anik, an assistant professor of business administration at the University of Virginia, set out to learn more about the effect of quarantine on FOMO. What she found in her research, which she hopes to publish this winter, is that FOMO, like many things in 2020, hasn’t gone away. It has just moved online.
Three Black men and women. Three different experiences. Three different feelings. But much of the same pain. “There’s trauma in seeing a Black man who could have been my brother, my father, and my son having died with a knee on his neck,” Johari Harris, a research assistant professor at the University of Virginia, said.
“If Joe Biden wins by at least a few points, then the Senate is likely to go at least 50-50″ Democratic, and a bigger Biden win would usher in a bigger Democratic majority, Larry Sabato, a UVA political scientist, said late last month. “It’s also possible that if Trump makes this a very close race or edges out Biden in the Electoral College, losing the popular vote by 2 or 3 points as he did in 2016, then I think the Senate has a good chance of staying Republican.”
“I think (Brennaman and Milbury) deserve to lose their jobs, and go back to school and get new friends. I don’t think they should be forgiven,” said Andrea Press, a University of Virginia media studies and sociology professor, who has authored a handful of books on feminism. “I can’t say I’m surprised about stereotypes of women uttered in the context of major league sports, but we should have moved way beyond those as well.”
“There’s less ticket-splitting than there used to be, and there are fewer instances of one party winning a district for the House that still votes for the other party” in the presidential election, said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball of UVA’s Center for Politics.
The University of Virginia’s Racial Equity Task Force today released its report outlining 12 key initiatives to improve racial equity at the University. The authors stated that “our report is a call to action for the University of Virginia to commit seriously to racial equity and implement a dozen concrete initiatives that are important to the University’s future. We believe strongly that this work requires significant investment in financial resources, leadership, and accountability, without which meaningful change will not occur.”
The main campus of University of Virginia is located in Charlottesville, Virginia. The 16,175 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates, excluding those who are only taking distance classes, make up 34.0% of the population. Undergrads who aren’t taking any distance classes as a share of the population: 31.9%
Things are looking a little more normal at the University of Virginia as students return to Grounds this weekend. Move-in began Sept. 4 and will be continuing in designated time slots throughout Labor Day weekend. As parents move their children in, many on Grounds for the first time, they say they’re excited for the new academic year, even if it won’t be what they expected.