Headlines @ U.Va.

What They Don’t Know Might Anger Them
A recently published study has brought to light the apparently long-time and widespread practice of having medical students learn to perform pelvic examinations on unconscious — and unconsenting — women. The little-known practice is “entirely unacceptable,” said Jonathan Moreno, director of U.Va.’s Center for Biomedical Ethics. “There is just no excuse for this kind of violation. There are enough reasons out there why people don’t trust hospitals, and to be doing these kinds of things creates the story that seems to justify paranoia.”
— Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, March 14

Students Get New Way to Pay
A new form of financial aid is gaining traction. Joining the mix of grants, loans and work study is …indentured servitude. According to a Christian Science Monitor report, lenders front tuition money in return for a cut of students’ earnings for several years after graduation — even if that amount is far more than what was initially loaned. The idea is innovative but untested, legally and otherwise, says Miguel Palacios, a fellow at the Darden School. “The growth of human-capital contracts will depend on the ability of those who design the instruments to accurately determine a student’s potential income and the capacity to collect payments,” he said, noting that students may seek to hide or postpone earnings.
— Christian Science Monitor, March 17

Professor: U.Va.’s Reputation Outstrips Reality
The University is living on its reputation and not its reality, economics professor William R. Johnson wrote in a Washington Post op-ed detailing years of state neglect. While U.Va.’s undergraduate program gets high marks in the popular media, the scholarly reputation of its graduate and professional programs, particularly in non-humanities fields, is declining, he wrote. “Greatness in a university is very difficult to attain and easy to lose,” he warned. He exhorted Virginians to demand the state take on a greater share of support. “For years the state has been lucky in getting a leading university at bargain prices and may be lulled into thinking that it always will. But eventually you get what you pay for.”
— Washington Post, March 9

Bread and Circus Pacifies Big Apple
The circus is coming to New York City, just in time to provide a welcome distraction from world events. Despite competition from several other areas of the entertainment world, attendance is up 15 percent since Sept. 11, 2001, a Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey spokesman told the New York Times. Theater arts professor LaVahn G. Hoh said that the circus provides both relief and reality. “There is a difference between the circus and reality television, and wrestling, and thrill shows on video,” he said. “In the circus, what people see is real, and the performers’ feats you see before your eyes are not edited or time-delayed.”
— New York Times, March 19