Advice to UVA's Class of 2017

I miss this school so much.

Tina Fey and Katie Couric share their UVA confessions

What should we call me: UVA edition

I cannot get enough of gifs. Here is a UVA edition of the popular website What Should We Call Me. Some of my favorites:

To that huge group of first years skipping down rugby road

When you go into a frat house and there is actually TP

Best impression of double swipe Dean

Round Robbins

When Ms. Kathy swipes you into Newcomb

Should students pay more tuition for degrees that lead to higher paying jobs?

Differential tuition — the practice of charging some college students more than others at public institutions — is on the rise, the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute reports. The study found that 143 colleges and universities are utilizing some form of differential tuition, and that the number of schools adopting the model has grown every year since 1985. Universities say that shrinking state budgets are to blame, forcing them to bump up charges for upperclassmen and those pursuing degrees — such as business, engineering, and nursing — that will lead to more lucrative jobs. Is differential tuition a fair policy?

Absolutely: Universities have to pay "competitive salaries to retain" professors who are in demand elsewhere, says The Cavalier Daily of the University of Virginia. The "market value" of business, engineering, and nursing professors is higher than that of other disciplines, and it makes sense for those programs to be more expensive. And while increased tuition would "dissuade people from low-income backgrounds" from entering those programs, "some of the additional money from differential tuition" could go toward financial aid packages. That way, "the costs and benefits weigh out."
"Good intuition"

No way: "It's not a stretch to believe that having to pay more for certain majors might influence what students choose to study," says Liz Dwyer at Good. Obviously, if you're "struggling" to pay the bills, "switching to a less-expensive major" would seem "sensible." But "more expensive majors skew toward critical" fields — meaning that differential tuition could discourage worthy students from tackling important majors, spelling "very bad news for America's future."
"Should engineering students pay more than English majors for their degrees?"

The current valuation is backwards: Universities "shouldn't be in the business of discouraging" students who want to pursue degrees in business or engineering, says Louis Lavelle at Bloomberg Businessweek — especially since those are the degrees that will "lead to a more productive and better-paid citizenry." If anything, colleges should charge more for "academic disciplines with less economic impact and poorer job prospects." As a country, "we need to decide what we value more and start pricing college accordingly."
"Differential tuition: A matter of fairness"

Source

UVA's 67 year old undergraduate student

If you've seen the 2003 movie "Old School," you are familiar with the character Blue Palasky: the 88-year old fraternity pledge who rushes a house run by men having a collective mid-life crisis.

Well if you got a kick out of Blue, you'll love Jerry Reid.

He's a 67-year-old, real-life Blue Palasky who filled a void in his life by heading back to school to get a college degree after most people retire. He's now an undergraduate at the University of Virginia, member of the Chi Phi fraternity and a UVA sports fanatic enjoying the school's basketball's revival this season.

Said Reid about the mood on campus: "It is astounding because many of the times I was up here, except for the Ralph Sampson and Jeff Lamp era, there was not that excitement rolling around."

It's little wonder. Virginia is a program that has reached the NCAA tournament just twice since 1997 and hit rock bottom in 2008 with a 10-18 record. But now the Cavaliers are ranked No. 19 in the country and looking to reach the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Heck, the average undergraduate at Virginia wasn't even born when the program reached the Final Four twice in the early 1980s — something that makes Reid especially useful to his fellow students.

"I'm called on all the time to answer questions about what it was like in the day," Reid said.

Forget Final Fours, the current senior class is looking for its first trip to a postseason tournament of any kind next month. That much is a near-certainty as the Cavaliers are currently 19-4 after a 68-44 beat down of Wake Forest on Wednesday night, where you could find Reid in the student section with this sweatshirt that reads, "We are UVA! and Jerry Reid is a student" (it also helps distinguish him from professors in classes).

Reid said he is used to skepticism from his fellow students about his ability to hang with their youthful legs but is quick to dismiss it.

"When I'm jumping up and down and doing the jump pound with them, (the students) tell me, 'You can't sit down, you've got to be on your feet the whole time,'" Reid said. "I say, 'You just watch, I'm with you.'"

He already has plans to attend the ACC Tournament in Atlanta and would like to see the Cavaliers play in the NCAA tournament in person if they make it far enough.

Who knows? Reid's odyssey just might lead to New Orleans if the team can ride Tony Bennett's trademark defense and star forward Mike Scott's interior scoring all the way to Virginia's first Final Four in nearly three decades.
But what exactly is Reid doing on a college campus anyway?

He failed to graduate from high school on time in the 1960s but used to party on Virginia's campus with a friend attending the school and actually he met his future wife there. After a long professional career that included everything from sports writing to working at a conveyor belt company, he felt an urge to finally get the degree he never received earlier in life.

So Reid took courses at a community college to apply for Virginia's Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies program and then moved from Richmond to Charlottesville to enroll at the school of his dreams in 2009.

Reid is on pace to graduate in the fall of 2013 and wants to teach writing afterward. He hopes to find a position at the university as he'd like to live in Charlottesville for the rest of his life.

"I'm not ever going to retire from anything and I hope to be in a classroom teaching experientially when I'm 70," Reid said.

Now in the same fraternity his friend joined almost half a century years ago, Reid is currently featured on the Chi Phi website with a headline that reads "World's Oldest Pledge?" In it, Reid quotes Thomas Jefferson by saying, "Friends we have if we have merited them. Those of our earliest years stand nearest in our affections. Our college friends are the dearest."

Despite the similarities to the aforementioned "Old School" character, Reid says he's not often compared to Blue Palasky for one simple reason.

"At age 67 I've retained my moves and I'm able to dance the style of music they've got going," Reid quipped.

Source

UVA researcher tracks causes of student death

How many college students die each year from alcohol-related injuries? Or car crashes? Or suicide?

There are many groups that calculate estimates, but James C. Turner, director of the Department of Student Health at the University of Virginia, says an official count hasn’t been taken in more than 70 years. So during his term as president of the American College Health Association, Turner asked more than 1,150 schools to share their mortality rates for students between the ages of 18 and 24 during the 2009-10 academic year.

Just over 150 public and private schools responded, and from what Turner has learned so far, death rates for college students could be significantly lower than previously estimated — especially for alcohol-related injuries and traffic deaths. He said the leading cause of student deaths could be suicide.

At the schools he surveyed, Turner said that for every 100,000 students there were just over six suicides and fewer than five alcohol-related deaths. (If you combine alcohol-related traffic deaths with those that did not involve alcohol, there were nearly seven deaths per 100,000 students.)

While alcohol abuse is still a critical issue on most campuses, Turner said student depression and other mental health issues need just as much attention. And there is a dire need for standardized methodology for tracking and reporting student deaths.

“My plea is that future studies look at school data and not simply extrapolations” of data for college-aged students, said Turner, who presented his findings at an American Public Health Association meeting Wednesday afternoon.

Many of those extrapolations are calculated by Ralph W. Hingson, who has closely studied trends in alcohol-related deaths on college campuses for years. Hingson said that because college administrators are not required to track or report student deaths, the numbers they volunteer to researchers are likely underestimates.

You can read Turner’s abstract and presentation on the American Public Health Association Web site.

Mellow Mushroom pizza opening in Adam's Morgan today

Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers will open its next restaurant in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 17 in the neighborhood of Adams Morgan.

Owners of this location are siblings Amit and Pooja Mehta.

"With the mix of nightlife, restaurants, unique shopping and art, it is the perfect location and vibe for a Mellow Mushroom," Pooja Mehta said.

This Mellow features three levels; indoor dining is available on levels one and two, and an enclosed penthouse area with an open rooftop deck is located on level three. An original combination of circus and vaudeville themes through historic eras will be featured.

All three levels feature a full-service bar, and this Mellow will include a Beer Club with 80 beers and member-only rewards.

Source

The location is: 2436 18th Street NW, Washington DC 20009

As a UVA alum, I am super excited about Mellow Mushroom expanding into DC. I can't wait to stop by sometime soon and check out their rooftop deck!

I (almost) finished my second drawing of the rotunda at UVA this week. Once I finish touching up the sky, then I will be done!