May 26, 2006Virginia Tech involved in Katrina studyNPR had a nice story this week on the failure of the 17th Street canal that led to most of the flooding in New Orleans. Two Virginia Tech professors -- Mike Duncan and Tom Brandon -- are involved in the study of why the canal failed and are quoted in the story. May 22, 2006Suicide on college campusesTime Magazine has an interesting story of how colleges are struggling to strike a balance between being compassionate when dealing with a student who could be suicidal and protecting themselves from litigation. May 19, 2006Governor Kaine discusses research rankings of Virginia universitiesI had the chance to speak with Gov. Tim Kaine before he addressed graduating Virginia Tech students at commencement last Friday. I asked him what he thought about the latest National Science Foundation rankings that came out last month. For the third year in a row, no Virginia universities were among the top-50 universities in the nation in research spending. "That's a very troubling thing," he said. "In the critical area of NSF rankings we haven't stacked up well...One of the things about the budget there isn't a dispute about whether this (increased funding for university research) should be done." Kaine categorized Virginia as being at "the end of the beginning" when it came to funding for university research and was optimistic about future funding because it was a bipartisan cause. Continue reading "Governor Kaine discusses research rankings of Virginia universities" » May 15, 2006Virginia colleges tops for graduating studentsVirginia Tech and Radford seniors have already donned the cap and gown and the University of Virginia's class of 2006 is about to follow. Seems like a good time to take a look at how Virginia public colleges compare to other institutions when it comes to getting students into those caps and gowns in a timely manner. The New York Times published the rates of the top schools last month. It shows that UVa. is first in the nation when it comes to public schools, not a surprise to a colleague of mine who graduated from there in 2001. He recalls hearing something early on in his college career along the lines of, "don't overstay your welcome." He graduated in four years. Continue reading "Virginia colleges tops for graduating students" » May 12, 2006Chat with College Board President Gaston CapertonI had the opportunity to pose a few questions to Gaston Caperton, former governor of West Virginia and president of the College Board, the national association that is best known for administering the SAT's and advanced placement programs. Caperton, a native of West Virginia and UNC-Chapel Hill alum, was in Blacksburg to give the keynote address at Virginia Tech's graduate commencement today. His father graduated from Tech in 1927. Here's a sample of some of his comments on: - Reports that this year's SAT, with its new writing section, caused students to score lower on the traditional math and verbal sessions due to burn out: "We haven't got all the data...the scores go up and down from year to year...We don't see any unusual situation except for one: that is students are not taking the SAT's as many times as they usually do." He explained that scores were down about five to eight points across the board and students usually do better on the test the more times they take it. Continue reading "Chat with College Board President Gaston Caperton" » May 9, 2006New database explores cost of college athleticsAnyone curious as to exactly how much big-time programs spend on sports and how much they make off of their athletes can now find out on a new database compiled by the Indianapolis Star. Calling itself "the most detailed, publicly-available database of college athletic department financial information ever assembled" it breaks down several financial measurements of 164 public colleges that participate in Division I athletics, including Virginia Tech. That's a response rate of 76 percent. According to the Virginia Tech breakdown, the university spent over $14 million on its football program during the 2004-05 school year. But football still netted about $11.3 million for the school. Continue reading "New database explores cost of college athletics" » |
About this blog
Rhode Island native and Virginia Tech reporter Greg Esposito posts on everyday college life, trends and issues affecting the 35,000-plus students in the New River Valley and beyond.
Tim Thornton, who is old enough to have children attending college, is still taking classes and is still fascinated by colleges, the students who populate them and the bureaucrats who operate them. His reporting beat is Radford University.
West Virginia native Anna Mallory blogs on student life topics at Virginia Tech, Radford University, New River Valley Community College -- and beyond.
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