U.Va. alum Angela Hucles led the U.S. women into the gold medal match by scoring two goals in the semi-final against Japan on Monday. ESPN.com has a nice feature on Hucles, as does LATimes.com, and earlier before the Olympics, Virginiasports.com did a Q&A with her.
Hucles will go for gold on Thursday against Brazil. The match kicks off at 9 a.m. ET.
Podcasts are all around Grounds (still don’t know what a podcast is? click here), and a new one that I was just alerted to via Darden is pretty cool. The Darden Greenpod will focus on environmental and sustainability issues at Darden and the business world at large, and is worth checking out. The first episode went up yesterday and features an interview with Frank Mantero, the director of corporate citizenship programs for GE.
If you’ve been away from U.Va. for the summer, you may notice that significant progress has been made on the South Lawn Project. Here’s a link to a Webcam that shows the progress, as viewed from New Cabell Hall, looking across JPA. Here’s a screen cap as of this morning:
Later this week, UVA Today will have a story on other new building projects around Grounds.
During the next two weeks on UVA Today we’ll be running a different profile of a University employee, courtesy of the new issue of U.Va. Magazine. There are nine profiles in all, and today’s focuses on Janice Cole, a detective with the University Police Department.
Future profiles run the gamut from a UTS mechanic to a tailor for the athletic department and represent the wide breadth of people and skill-sets that’s required to keep U.Va. running. Stay tuned to UVA Today for a new one each day.
This Saturday is move-in day at U.Va. and thousands of new students and their parents are sure to have that dazed, “where am I?” look on their face as they study a map of Grounds and try to make their way around. So if you’re soon to be new to U.Va., here are some helpful links to help you navigate upon your arrival.
And for complete orientation information, check out the fall orientation Web site.
It should come as no surprise that U.Va. English professor and poet Charles Wright is one of the finalists for the 11th Annual Library of Virginia Literary Awards.
Wright, who has collected a roomful of major literary awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, is no stranger to the Virginia honor. He received the Library of Virginia’s poetry award in 1998 and 2003. This year, his most recent book-length poem, “Littlefoot,” is in the running with R.T. Smith, another past winner and editor of Shenandoah at Washington and Lee University, for his book, “Outlaw Style,” and Constance Merritt, past poet in residence at Sweetbriar College, for her second book, “Blessings and Inclemencies.”
The finalists — three each in poetry, fiction and nonfiction — were chosen by an independent panel of judges from 138 books nominated for the awards. The winners will be announced at a gala celebration Oct. 18 at the Library of Virginia in Richmond. Adriana Trigiani, editor of the Washington Post Book World, will serve as this year’s host.
Courtesy of Virginiasports.com:
Former UVa rower Lindsay Shoop was part of the winning United States women’s eight crew Sunday at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, as the Americans earned the gold medal in the event with a time of 6:05.34.
Shoop, a Charlottesville native and two-time All-American in 2003 and 2004, rowed in the second seat in the crew. The U.S. stormed into the final race with impressive heat wins and dominated the final race from start to finish.
Via the School of Law’s Public Works blog, comes news that the Public Service Center has just launched its new home page. It looks great.
The Public Service Center coordinates all pro bono and public-minded legal service for law schools students, researchers and faculty. Whether it’s working for a housing clinic or Legal Aid, the Public Service Center is an important part of the overall mission of the U.Va. Law School.
http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/publicserv/publicservice.htm
Virginiasports.com has a quick story out on some former Hoo rowers, who are still in medal contention.
Kok, a 2007 UVa graduate and first team All-American, and her teammate Tracy Cameron, finished with a time of 7:10.70 to edge host China in the semifinal race. The gold medal will be on the line on Sunday, Aug. 17 at 2:30 a.m. eastern time.
…
Kok joins fellow rowers with Virginia ties Lindsay Shoop (Charlottesville, Va.) and Wyatt Allen (Portland, Maine), who also advanced to the finals in their respective events.
Shoop, rowing with the United States’ women’s eight crew, will compete for the gold medal on Sunday, Aug. 17, at 5:10 a.m. eastern time. Shoop was a two-time All-American rower at UVa in 2003 and 2004.
Allen, a 2001 Virginia graduate, will row with the United States’ men’s eight crew in the finals on Sunday, Aug. 17, at 5:30 a.m.
In other news, it appears that Darden grad Adam Nelson’s bid for a third-straight medal in the shot put will come up empty.
The Daily Progress has a great article this morning on incoming student Zack Ketz, and his unlikely attempt to get the denizens of the Internet to foot the tab for his tuition at U.Va. Ingenious idea, right? Well, sort of. Zetz put himself on eBay, with the idea being that the winner would pay his tuition in return for him becoming a walking advertisement for their generosity. The final tally only came to $152.50, which won’t quite cover tuition, but it will get him a textbook or two.
The winning bid went to a family friend, who only requested that Ketz shed a tear or two at his funeral.
The DP article is great, but if you really want to learn more, Ketz blogged the entire experience and even some of the national media attention he’s received.
http://www.sendzackketztocollege.blogspot.com/
(Photo via Zack’s blog)
Update: Out of curiosity, here’s a link to eBay’s listing of “University of Virginia” items. Sure you’ve got your random memorabilia and sports gear, but this, by far, is the coolest item.
This is the top story on UVA Today right now and it’s a wonderful feature in the new issue of Virginia Magazine. Ed Crews writes about Tashi Rabgey and David Germano, the co-directors of the new U.Va. Tibet Center:
The center’s aim is to blend traditional Tibetan and Buddhist studies with contemporary scholarship. It will engage a range of academic disciplines and connect scholars with people outside academia—tourists, residents, entrepreneurs and community volunteers.
“The University of Virginia is a global nexus for Tibetan studies,” Germano says. “The center will expand U.Va.’s profile by moving into public policy, law and the contemporary arena to create a continuum of teaching, research, community services and dialogue. We see it as a meeting place for people from many perspectives.”
The center opens at a time of growing interest in Tibet, worldwide as well as on Grounds. Students fill special programs, and classes on Tibetan Buddhism attract people from diverse courses like engineering, premed and prelaw.
The article touches on the Tibetan and Himalayan Library, built in conjunction with the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at U.Va. You can access the library here.
“We think of this library not as just a repository of books, images, maps, audio-video and other forms of knowledge, but as a profoundly social institution—just like the library in the Rotunda in U.Va.’s early history,” Germano says.
The site, thlib.org, features collections that cover Tibet from many perspectives—you can listen to a Buddhist monk lecture on philosophy, hear a doctor discuss traditional medicine or explore a 360-degree view of Mount Everest.
The Virginia Magazine has a new video up on their YouTube channel titled, “Hoo Knew? What You May Have Missed Around U.Va.” It’s got some unique footage of familiar places around Grounds and Charlottesville.
As a repeat offender doodler, I got a kick out of the new issue of Arts & Sciences Magazine, which has a cool photo gallery of the desks of New Cabell Hall, which in some cases have decades upon decades of student doodles etched in their desktops. Check out the photos to see some of the handiwork of U.Va.’s finest scribblers through the years.
The ACC’s annual Honor Roll was announced Wednesday with 225 Virginia athletes making the grade. The Honor Roll requires a 3.0 average for a full academic year and varsity sport participation. In addition, some Hoo athletes were singled out even more:
Virginia had six individuals named ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in their respective sports during the 2007-08 academic year. Those individuals included Kelsie Chaudoin (rowing), Dom Inglot (men’s tennis), Sarah Kirkwood (volleyball), Ben Rubeor (men’s lacrosse), Tom Santi (football) and PJ Sullivan (men’s swimming).
Congrats to all the U.Va. athletes who made the Honor Roll.
Today on UVA Today we highlighted an interview with Jason Wu Trujillo, who is the new senior assistant dean for admissions and financial aid at the School of Law. One of Jason’s goals is to make the law school’s admissions and financial aid process completely paperless within the next five yerars — something that the undergraduate office of admission is already undertaking. The Notes From Peabody blog has a blog post up about that process, and how’s it required some new computer monitors for the staff. Check out the post and photos. That’s a lot of boxes!
