There will be a U.Va. grad on “The Apprentice” when it debuts Sept. 16 on NBC.
She is Mahsa Saeidi-Azcuy, 29, who earned an undergraduate degree in biology at U.Va., then went on to get a film degree from the New York Film Academy and a law degree from Brooklyn Law School. She’s now an assistant DA in New York.
“The Apprentice” is a reality-style game show in which 16 contestants vie for a job with the Trump Organization. Each week, one or more are elimnated, with Donald Trump himself issuing the dreaded line, “You’re fired.”
Check out the new episode of the UVA Today Radio Show, a weekly five minute segment on WTJU radio. Look for new editions of the show every Wednesday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU. Afterward, all of the segments will be posted oniTunesU.
Read more about the stories featured in this week’s program:
This just in from UVA Today science correspondent Fariss Samarrai:
University of Virginia alumnus Phil Plait, who earned a Ph.D. in astronomy in 1994, is hosting a new television series that premieres this Sunday at 10 p.m. on the Discovery Channel.
The show, “Phil Plait’s Bad Universe,” examines question related to astronomy, putting assorted claims to the test. The first show is on asteroid impacts.
Faithful readers of the UVA Today News Blog know that we have a soft spot for anything involving U.Va. baseball — and particularly former Cavalier star Ryan Zimmerman, now arguably the best third baseman in the National League (no matter what the All-Star voters say).
What casual fans may not be aware of is Zimmerman’s commitment to battling multiple sclerosis, which afflicts his mother. His ziMS Foundation on Monday hosted an event at Nationals Park — called, amazingly enough, “A Night at the Ballpark” — to raise funds. (Zimmerman negotiated the free use of the ballpark for one night a year in his contract with the Washington Nationals.)
From this account on the “We Love DC” blog, the night was a success. Perhaps most impressive, many of Zimmerman’s teammates showed up, on their day off after arriving home at 3 a.m. that morning from a week-long roadtrip to Phoenix and Los Angeles.
Bravo to Zimm (and his teammates). You’re still making us proud back here on Grounds.
The lead story is about Lane DeGregory, a 1989 alumna who won a Pulitzer Prize for a St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times feature story on a 7-year-old girl who was adopted by a new family. (That’s her receiving hugs in the photo above after winning the award.)
The circumstances surrounding the adoption were anything but routine:
“The Girl in the Window” tracks the horrific discovery of a “feral child” in a Plant City, Fla., home, and the child’s eventual adoption and development. When she was discovered by law enforcement officials, 7-year-old Danielle was malnourished and lived in a closet full of insects and her own dirty diapers. She could not speak, let alone interact. She had been denied basic human nurturing, and was deemed feral.
We here at UVA Today headquarters like to take a small sliver of credit for DeGregory’s success. She was once a student intern in our office, then known as University Relations, before going off to bigger and better things.
A couple of updates on some of the more popular Cavalier athletes to pass through Charlottesville …
• Women’s basketball player Monica Wright, U.Va.’s all-time leading scorer, seems to be struggling a little as of late as a rookie with the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, but is one of only four player to have appeared in all 19 of the team’s games (starting nine of them). She’s averaging 9.4 points and 2.3 rebounds per game in about 22 minutes of action, but is shooting just 30 percent from the floor, including just four of 21 shots in the last two games. Minnesota is 7-12 on the season after a narrow two-point loss to league-leading Seattle on Saturday.
• Former Cavalier football great Thomas Jones is settling in with his fifth NFL team in 11 years since lighting up Scott Stadium, despite consistently outstanding years in the pro ranks and earning a reputation as a positive locker room leader — an oddity that drew the notice of the New York Times over the weekend. This year, he’ll be carrying the ball for the Kansas City Chiefs. His previous stops: Arizona, Tampa Bay, Chicago and the New York Jets.
If you’re looking for something good to watch on TV Saturday and Sunday mornings, you might want to check out the British Open golf tournament. It’s looking like U.Va. grad Steve Marino will make the cut in his Open debut, despite shooting 76 in near-gale-force winds on the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland, the fabled home of golf. (In Thursday’s first round, played in much gentler conditions, Marino carded a very competitive 69.)
Marino has a lot of ground to make up, though, if he is to get into contention. He trails second-round leader Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa by a whopping 13 strokes.
This note just in from Mark Thaden, who (with Darci Spuck) is helping to coordinate the 2010 UVaExpress program that picks up international students at Dulles Airport and drops them off on Grounds (read more about last year’s edition here):
There’s one more roster spot left on the National League All-Star team, and Major League Baseball holds a fan vote to determine who gets it. Among the five candidates is former U.Va. star Ryan Zimmerman, an outstanding third baseman for the not-so-outstanding Washington Nationals.
Zimmerman certainly has the credentials. A winner of both the Gold Glove (as the best fielder in the league at his position) and a Silver Slugger (as the best hitter in the league at his position) in 2009, Zimmerman is batting .293 with 16 home runs and 46 RBI. Last night, he hit a double and two home runs — including the game-winning shot in the bottom of the ninth inning — as the Nats rallied to beat the NL West-leading San Diego Padres, 6-5.
The voting closes Thursday at 4 p.m. You can cast your ballot here; vote as often as you can wish.
For more on Zimmerman, check out this Athletic Department release. The All-Star Game will be played Tuesday at 8 p.m. in Anaheim, Calif.
The U.Va. Engineering School’s monthly E-News newsletter posed a question to alumni in June: How has your engineering background helped you to understand the recent oil spill in the Gulf, and what do you see as the most effective preventive and corrective measures?
A sample quote, from a 2007 mechanical engineering grad:
The experience of the Deepwater Horizon should be a reminder to all engineers that, while we may understand a great deal about the devices and technologies that we design and implement, these systems do not operate in the idealized conditions that often simplify our analyses and that they will often fail in ways that we had not foreseen. More pointedly, it is a reminder that the response to engineering disasters will often be governed not by what is technologically feasible, but within the constraints of governmental structures, financial realities, and environmental externalities. Most of us are fortunate to not have such public or catastrophic failures, but that does not mean that we should be any less professional in the exercise of our duties.
The cover story is a very well-done feature on U.Va. President John T. Casteen III as he prepares to step down Aug. 1 after 20 years in Madison Hall; the online version includes a couple of videos, one a tribute from Virginia Tech and the other a recap of the picnic on the Lawn that honored Casteen and his wife, Betsy, earlier this spring.
If you’ve got no time to read, there’s a humorous pictorial essay of people spelling out “U! V! A!” with their arms all over the world.
For those of you who were unable to get to Charlottesville for Reunions Weekend — or did make it, and want to relive it, or figure out what parts you missed — check out the Reunions website for photos, videos (mostly shot by the alumni) and podcasts.
And if you were unable to attend because you live in the West, you’ve got another chance. The Alumni Association is planning a Western U.S. Alumni Weekend on Sept. 10-12 in Los Angeles, to coincide with U.Va.’s football game against the University of Southern California. They’re not yet taking registration, but it’s a good idea to order your football tickets now if you want to go to the game.
With so much talk these days about going green, eating local and just being more sustainable in general, it can be daunting trying to figure out where to start.
Nickie Knight, an enterprising 2002 graduate of the School of Nursing, has launched a new nationwide online directory of “verifiably green businesses” called TheGoGreenPages.com. Visitors can search by keyword or location, or browse by category. There are also articles like “How to Start and Urban Herb Garden” and “Traveling Green: Finding an Eco-Friendly Hotel.”
A quick search for Charlottesville turned up two business listings: for Savvy Rest, a home furnishings store that sells organic mattresses, and Sammy Snacks, a maker and retailer of “all-natural, holistic foods” for pets (and their humans).
Knight is listed as the founder and editor-in-chief of both TheGoGreenPages and Hip Moms Go Green, an online magazine.
According to her official bio:
Going ‘green’ has always been more than hobby, or buzzword, for Nickie. Having combined a nursing degree from The University of Virginia with an innate love of research, Nickie has minimized her children’s severe health issues through alterations to her family’s diet and environment, as well as started a successful consulting business. Her specialty is in simplifying the process of going green so that moms are undaunted by the task of creating a healthier world for themselves and their children. For over a decade, Nickie has tackled issues in the fields of homeopathy, naturopathy, and nutrition, in addition to drawing on her experience in interior design to assist in the management and elimination of home-based toxins.
A YouTube gem: James Mason narrating an animation of U.Va. alum Edgar Allan Poe’s “A Tell-Tale Heart,” from 1953. It was reputedly the first animation to draw an X rating from British authorities, although it is pretty tame by today’s standards. Enjoy. (It’s about 7 1/2 minutes).
This just in from Alumni Hall, where they are no doubt feverishly gearing up for Reunions Weekend, which begins tomorrow:
For those who will be attending Reunions Weekend, we have developed a mobile-friendly site that can be accessed from any smart phone. This mobile guide to Reunions includes a schedule of events, news alerts and rain sites, phone numbers, and information about class events, parking, kids’ activities, and more.
There will be a U.Va. grad on “The Apprentice” when it debuts Sept. 16 on NBC.
This just in from UVA Today science correspondent Fariss Samarrai:
• Women’s basketball player 
• Former Cavalier football great Thomas Jones is settling in with his fifth NFL team in 11 years since lighting up Scott Stadium, despite consistently outstanding years in the pro ranks and earning a reputation as a positive locker room leader — an oddity that 
If you’re looking for something good to watch on TV Saturday and Sunday mornings, you might want to check out the 
We probably should have noted this sooner, but in case you haven’t seen it, the 
Nickie Knight, an enterprising 2002 graduate of the School of Nursing, has launched a new nationwide online directory of “verifiably green businesses” called 
