UVA Today News Blog

UVA Today has an article up on some of the logistics, parking and stadium issues to keep in mind for Saturday’s home football game against powerhouse USC (kickoff is at 3:30, TV: ABC). There’s also information on the Fan Fest that’s happening prior to the game and some news on the “Orange Out.” Scott Stadium should be bursting at the seams with 60,000+ in attendance.

In other Hoos news, the Daily Progress has the definitive season preview. And Virginiasports.com has a great “Game Day Central” page with everything you’ll need to know as you prepare to cheer on the Hoos this Saturday.

U.Va. second year student Colin Wood has to be one of the busiest people on Grounds. As the founder of Hoos Ready, a student-run emergency preparedness group, Wood is using the start of the new term to sign-up as many U.Va students as possible. So far, Hoo Ready boasts over 1,000 members and that number is sure to climb after the first week of school. UVA Today profiled Wood and Hoos Ready in a story that ran yesterday.

One thing that Hoos Ready emphasizes, is the University text messsage “U.Va. Alerts” system. Simply click here to sign-up to receive alerts from U.Va. about potential, developing, or existing emergencies.

Here’s a quick note from ITC, about a new scam that’s targeting University email accounts.

The first day of classes at U.Va. was on Tuesday, and one of our favorite U.Va. student bloggers has a post up discussing her first day in the Comm School. Be sure to check out the “UVA Life” blog for a student’s perspective.

And with the new semester now starting, to all you U.Va. bloggers (students, faculty, & staffers) out there, if you have a blog and are not listed here, send me an e-mail and I will try to add you to our blog list.

This article on the front of UVA Today this morning by the folks at Arts & Sciences Magazine is really worth reading. It’s about Brett Baxley, a U.Va. student who died in 2006 due to a rare muscle cancer but left a truly lasting legacy and impression with everyone he met.

It’s game week at U.Va., and this Saturday against USC is arguably the single biggest opening game in Virginia football history. (Personally, I’d vote for the game in Ann Arbor against Michigan in 1995 — and if the name Mercury Hayes sends a shiver down your spine, you know what I mean).

There will be a lot of activities surrounding Saturday’s game, both on Friday night and the day of the game itself (kickoff is at 3:30). The folks at Alumni Hall have lined up a series of events, starting at 10 a.m. on gameday and extending to a post-game tailgate. For more information check out the Alumni Hall football weekend site.

The U.Va. Center for Politics will be filing dispatches live from the Democratic National Convention in Denver all week. On the “Crystal Ball” Web site, you can read the latest report from the first night of the convention.

Last week UVA Today ran a story on some of the new buildings that were open for business with the start of this new academic term. Today in the Daily Progress there’s a good article on another construction project on Grounds, the South Lawn Project. The article focuses on the next phase of construction, which is building the terrace that spans the South Lawn over JPA. For more on the South Lawn Project, you can always visit the official construction site.

I was reminded of this post from back in the summer when I read the article on the Darden Web site today about the new class of 2010 being welcomed this past weekend to U.Va. by Dean Bruner.

First up, I have to recommend this NYTimes.com article on how the execs at NBC convinced the IOC to change not only when the Beijing Olympics were to take place (originally, the Chinese host committee wanted them in September) but also how NBC was able to finagle the swimming and gymnastics finals to take place live in prime time on the East Coast of the U.S.

Factoid I didn’t know: NBC pays more for the U.S. Olympic broadcast rights then all other countries pay for their TV rights combined.

U.Va. athletes end the Olympics winning four medals: Gold for Angela Hucles (women’s soccer) and Lindsay Shoop (women’s 8 crew) and bronze for Wyatt Allen (men’s 8 crew) and Melanie Kok (women’s double sculls, Team Canada). Congrats to all the Hoo Olympians!

All in all, thanks to Michael Phelps, the women’s gymnastics team and Usain Bolt, these were the most-watched Olympics of all-time.

Val Ackerman is one of the most influential people in the history of women’s basketball and she’ll be honored at the Basketball Hall of Fame in two weeks:

Val Ackerman, a two-time Academic All-American forward at Virginia, current President of USA Basketball and former and founding President of the WNBA, will receive the 2008 John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame during enshrinement festivities Sept. 4-6 in Springfield, Mass.

Virginiasports.com has the full press release.

The students arrived over the weekend and classes start tomorrow, so today is sort of the last *official* day of summer at U.Va. With that in mind, the usual “Week in Photos” is instead a “Summer in Photos” feature, with some great shots of the last three months around Grounds and Charlottesville.

Just in time for the new semester to start, the folks in the Web communications office are happy to re-launch a new U.Va. sustainability Web site. The site is “intended to assist the University community and others to visualize how U.Va. demonstrates its leadership in sustainability. The information is updated regularly by the many administrative units charged with the responsibility for helping U.Va. become a Greener Grounds.”

Be sure to keep checking this site for all the latest U.Va. sustainability and environmental news and initiatives.

This is a pretty cool link. It’s an article form the official Web site of USC football coach Pete Caroll that details the preparations made by the Trojan football staff when they paid an advance visit to Charlottesville and U.Va. earlier this year to scope out the scene for the Aug. 30 game against U.Va.

It’s interesting to read an article from the perspective of someone who has never been to U.Va. or C-ville, and you have to come away impressed with the meticulous nature of USC’s preparation.

In addition to the story, there’s a great photo gallery of the USC staff touring Scott Stadium.

U.Va.-owned radio station WTJU will be remembering the three-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina all next week, with special New Orleans-themed programming from Aug. 25-31. Here’s some info from the radio station, and if you click-thru, you’ll see the special “Remember New Orleans” line-up for next week:

It is hard to believe that it has been three years since the world saw the first images and reports of the devastation in New Orleans suffered at the hands of Hurricane Katrina. While the daily reminders of the tragedy have diminished, it is imperative not to forget that the rebuilding is ongoing and to celebrate the very things that make New Orleans the undeniable treasure that it is - the passion, resiliency and spirit of the people and the music they make. Join us, August 25 - August 31, as the Jazz Department along with many other hosts at WTJU showcase the performers and sounds from the birthplace of jazz as they continue to move forward and restore the soul of New Orleans.