Some scholars see the current waves of activism that sprouted primarily from the Black Lives Matter movement as a precursor to overdue structural reform. “The racial justice movement currently underway is unprecedented and can be considered a game-changer. The way many people look at the world has literally changed in weeks,” said Kevin K. Gaines, UVA’s Julian Bond Professor of Civil Rights and Social Justice.
There’s been a lot of buzz about antibodies and coronavirus. Should you get tested for them to see if you’ve had the virus and didn’t know? If you have antibodies in your system, are you basically in the clear? Dr. Eric Houpt, an infectious disease specialist at the UVA School of Medicine, digs into these questions.
A few months ago, Albemarle County Supervisors released a community survey with the help from the Center for Survey Research of UVA’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. Now, the results are in and painting a better picture of what people want the county to look like moving forward.
Nonprofits of all kinds are typically ineligible for government-backed small business loans, but the Trump administration made an exception in its COVID-19 relief efforts. Although sympathetic to the plight of religious institutions, some law and religion experts were disturbed by this policy move. By sending taxpayer money directly to churches, officials violated a generally accepted ban on funding religious activities, UVA Law professor Micah Schwartzman said.
(Audio of Rita Dove, a professor at the University of Virginia, Pulitzer Prize winner and a former U.S. Poet Laureate)
Dr. Cameron Webb could soon add “U.S. congressman” to his already impressive résumé. Last week, the 37-year-old internal medicine physician won the Democratic primary election in Virginia’s fifth congressional district. Alongside running a highly contested congressional campaign, Webb has also been conducting local COVID-19 testing at the UVA Medical Center.
(Commentary by Richard Schragger, Perre Bowen Professor of Law) The U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been at best fragmented and incomplete. At worst, it is incompetent and disastrous. Critics say the fault lies largely in the lack of a unified competent national response to the crisis, though some are thankful that states and cities have some independent authority, for at least it means that governors and mayors can act when the federal government fails to do so. The big picture, however, reveals a mostly dysfunctional federalism.
UVA researchers examined the reactions of gut microbes to medication and a patient’s ability to tolerate chemotherapy drugs and found different microbes react to the chemicals in different ways, including some generating toxins. That, they say, may explain why the same dose may work for one patient and make another sick.
This summer, about 500 UVA students will take part in the Propel program, working as consultants to start-up companies and small businesses in rural Virginia counties hurt by the pandemic.
(Editorial) Students at the UVA Career Center are helping real businesses. A new collaboration has been formed between the center and the Central Virginia Small Business Development Center. Called the Propel Management Consulting Program, it assigns students to help businesses transition more of their activities online.
University of Virginia’s College at Wise Chancellor Donna Henry announced June 18 that the school has the intention to move back to on-campus classes starting in the fall of 2020.
Yeardley Love was cherished by the Virginia lacrosse community for her fun-loving attitude and contagious energy. Earlier this month, a statue of the joyous Love was built outside the U.S. Lacrosse national headquarters in Maryland to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of her tragic death.
Each year since 2013, Carrie Heilman, a professor in UVA’s McIntire School of Commerce, asks students in her yearlong Promotions course to participate in a national competition of the American Advertising Federation. And, recently, a team of McIntire students won the competition, even amidst challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
Starting on July 4, 24 teams will compete in a $1 million winner-take-all basketball tournament. Dubbed “The Basketball Tournament” and also known as “TBT,” the event will be fully quarantined and take place in Ohio. Originally, UVA alumni planned to form a team to compete in the event. It would’ve been the first UVA alumni team to participate in the competition, which began in 2014. Due to COVID-19, the Cavaliers’ squad dropped out at the beginning of the month.
(Commentary by Zachary Rosenthal, a student double majoring in media studies and in leadership and public policy) For some people, the weather is more than a conversation starter. An American Meteorological Society survey found that most meteorologists developed a passion for the weather in their late elementary school years. As an elementary schooler, I read every piece of weather literature that I could. That said, it is never too late to discover your passion, learn about the weather and become the go-to weather geek for your friends and family.
A UVA Health epidemiologist says that while there are a slew of data points and statistics released each day, there are a few that are more important to keep track of. Dr. Bill Petri says the goal is to keep the percent positive of people tested below 10%. Right now, Virginia is trending down and is currently at 7%.
“We have about two-thirds of residents who are concerned at the pace of growth – they consider it either a little too fast or much too fast,” Kara Fitzgibbon, the director of the Center for Survey Research at UVA’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, told the Board of Supervisors earlier this month.
Five UVA students found themselves with some free time last year and created Arbitrage, an internet-based clothing business fueled by savvy social media use and sharp focus on the trends and proclivities of their customer base of UVA students.
(Commentary by Andrew W. Kahrl, professor of history and African American studies) History is repeating itself as pools, beaches and clubs open – but mostly for the privileged few.
Eric Houpt, head of the Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health at UVA Health, said it could take another month to fully understand the effects of the loosened restrictions in Virginia, Maryland and the District – and the mass street protests and demonstrations this month in the nation’s capital, Richmond and elsewhere.