Virginia Public Radio

Patrick Carney
Photo: SPACE.com

Parents and grandparents may anguish over the amount of time kids spend playing video games or watching videos on YouTube, but a University of Virginia student offers reassurance.  His passion for those things has led to an amazing prize, as Sandy Hausman reports.

In 2013 national Democrats took note of Terry McAulife’s win in Virginia’s gubernatorial race. Matt Laslo reports they’re hoping to use that ‘Virginia model’ to win nationally in the 20-14 midterms, and they’re trying to make their case with one Virginia Republican in particular.

Virginia Tech is one of six sites that will test drones as part of push to integrate them into the nation’s airspace in the next few years.   Robbie Harris has the story.

New numbers from the U.S. Justice Department may come as a surprise to those who think prisons are the best response to crime.  Inmate populations are down, and so are criminal convictions as Sandy Hausman reports. 

This wasn’t a pretty year in Washington and Virginia lawmakers are as upset about it as voters. Matt Laslo has this look back at the highs and lows from our congressional delegation.

It is that time of year—when you just might have a Holiday Jingle Ear Worm….maybe you picked it up in a department store, or from a humming co-worker.  Maybe even from this radio station. ‘Tis the season for Christmas tunes.
Connie Stevens talks with a writer from Appomatox, who is actually an expert on American Christmas music.

A new report from the University of Virginia and the Legal Aid Justice Center shows Virginia schools suspend black boys at twice the rate of whites – often for minor offenses like being loud or disruptive in class, but another approach could solve the problem while keeping students in school.  Sandy Hausman has that story.

At Christmas time in 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono embarked on their famous Peace Campaign.   Soon after their ‘year of peace’ they collaborated on another song on the same theme. Robbie Harris has the story of the never before released demo recording they made.

Scientists are asking the public’s help in stemming the spread of a blight on the Boxwood bush.  The plant is often used in holiday wreaths and garlands this time of year. Robbie Harris has more.

Last year, the White House issued an executive order barring the deportation of high school students whose parents came to this country illegally.  They were encouraged to apply for a special immigration status that could, ultimately, lead to citizenship.  Now, seven of those students are suing to qualify for in-state tuition at Virginia’s public colleges and universities as Sandy Hausman reports. 

Birds do it.  Bees do it.  No…we’re not talking about ‘falling in love,’ we’re talking about sex.  Biologists have long known it plays a vital role in passing new gene combinations on to the next generation, but what’s been less clear, is exactly how that works.   Now, a Virginia Tech Biologist has a new theory that challenges long held notions about natural selection and survival of the fittest.  Robbie Harris has more.

Red bricks covered with ivy have long been seen as a part of Virginia’s charm, but scientists in Richmond warn the vines are taking over – posing a threat to other plants in the state, and they want citizens to do their part in getting ivy under control. Sandy Hausman reports.

Feast in the Ober/Alexander Reading Room

Digitally restored daguerreotype of Emily Dickinson, 1847
Image: Wikimedia Commons

This week, we celebrate Emily Dickinson’s 183rd birthday.  What better way to celebrate the poet than by baking her famous Black Cake?   A group of Charlottesville poets-turned-bakers let us join them for their “Fourth Annual Emily Dickinson Birthday Party.”

Lilia Fuquen takes us to the party.

Image: womensmonumentcom.virginia.gov/

After scouring four centuries of Virginia history—a dozen women have been selected to be memorialized with a bronze monument on Richmond’s Capitol Square. Connie Stevens has the list in this report on the Women of Virginia Commemorative Commission.

Both state lawmakers and Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe say ethics reform will be a priority in January when McAuliffe takes office and the General Assembly convenes. But as Virginia Public Radio’s Tommie McNeil reports, at least one lawmaker is warning that his colleagues should tread lightly and put a great deal of thought into their proposals … because the issue is more of a minefield than people realize.

Timothy Sands

After a unanimous vote, the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors has named the university’s next president.   55-year-old Timothy Sands, the provost of Purdue University will be the 16th president of Virginia Tech.

Sands holds an endowed chair in engineering at Purdue—and specializes in the growing field of nanotechnology, with applications for many high-tech uses.  He’s published more than 250 refereed papers, and has been granted 16 patents in electronic materials. Last year he  served as Purdue’s acting president.

Sands begins work on June 1st, when President Charles Steger steps down.  Steger announced his retirement last spring—he’s been president of Virginia Tech since 2000.

Some 238 candidates were considered in the 6-month search to head the one-point-two billion dollar academic enterprise.  Virginia Tech now offers 215 degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $450 million.

Virginia Organizing is out with its annual Job Gap report.  The report compares the number of job seekers to the number of jobs that pay a living wage.  Beverly Amsler has the details.

Virginia needs 30 new judges to keep up with the current caseload.  Beverly Amsler reports on a new study, ordered by the General Assembly.

Alan Wang, Pamplin College of Business

These days, there’s no shortage of information available on the Internet. Everybody and anybody can offer an opinion. But how do you determine what’s valuable and what isn’t?  Robbie Harris tells us about a research team at Virginia Tech, that’s come up with a way to cut through the clutter out there.

Stock Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images via NPR

Some members of the State Board of Elections have again raised the issue of potential vote-counting irregularities in Fairfax County, but this time a major focus was on which provisional ballots should have been counted.  While the entire Fairfax Electoral Board was unable to attend today’s state meeting to explain, one member traveled to Richmond to begin a discussion about what happened.  And as Virginia Public Radio’s Anne Marie Morgan reports, their differences could all boil down to how the state law is interpreted.

Proponents of coal are warning the shifting energy economy in the southwestern part of Virginia could ripple across the rest of the commonwealth. Matt Laslo reports opponents say they’re ringing false alarm bells.

The Supreme Court is now weighing a case that could put an end to limits on individual campaign contributions.  Backers of the idea argue that as long as the donation is disclosed, the risk of corruption is minimal, but another view has emerged from the University of Virginia Law School, as Sandy Hausman reports. 

A debut novel by a Virginia Tech alum is getting praise for its take on the complexities of love and change in the wake of war.  “The Fallen Snow” is an early 20^th century story set –both in a close knit, Appalachian Town– and war time France.  Robbie Harris spoke with John Kelly, who lives in Washington D.C.  He says he first  began thinking about the idea for the book when he was in college  thirty years ago.

Photo: Washington & Lee University
Executive Chef J. Young prepares a historically accurate Thanksgiving meal.

As you plan this year’s Thanksgiving dinner, you might want to consider what the Pilgrims really ate.  Sandy Hausman went to Washington & Lee University for a taste of the original feast and found eel and beer were likely part of the meal, but turkey – maybe not.

Photo: Virginia Tech
University Honors students, from left, Kwamina Orleans-Pobee, Nicholas Montgomery, and Wes Williams want to make their tool, AboliShop, available for public use for Black Friday shoppers.

It’s estimated some thirty million people around the world are forced into slave labor. And while there’s been an international outcry, it was hard to know what labor conditions are behind the products you buy. Now a team of students at Virginia Tech has come up with an easy way for online shoppers to see how their purchases stack up on the human rights scale, before they buy.   Robbie Harris reports.