Headlines @ U.Va.

Report Confirms Plight of State Schools
Many around Grounds know that any realistic evaluation of state funding for Virginia’s colleges and universities would find it lacking. Still, it was encouraging to see a State Council of Higher Education for Virginia report confirm — and quantify — the damage being done. The report chronicles the long decline in state funding, the recent rise in tuition and how much ground Virginia faculty salaries are losing to their peers. One interesting note: Despite recent hikes, tuition has risen more slowly than inflation since 1996. “Higher education support is on a slippery slope,” said council chairman Carl N. Kelly. “What took years to build we stand to lose, and it will take a long time to rebuild a nationally reputable system of higher education.”
(Washington Post, May 22)

Law Professor Calls for Sit-In for School Equality
A half-century after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered schools to be racially desegregated, they have re-segregated along geographical lines, wrote law professor James Ryan in a Washington Post commentary. Largely white suburban schools are better equipped and attract better teachers than largely black urban schools and mixed-race rural schools. “The impact of these inequalities is profound,” he wrote. “Originally intended to be an equalizer, public schools more often than not perpetuate the inequalities that exist in our society.” Ryan called for a sit-in movement this fall, urging children from failing schools to show up at good suburban schools and simply sit down. “It just might make that problem impossible to ignore,” he said.
(Washington Post, May 19)

Littlepage in the Spotlight
Athletics director Craig Littlepage is drawing national recognition. In its May 5 issue, Sports Illustrated magazine listed him as No. 46 in its list of the 100 most powerful minorities in sports, citing his membership on the prestigious NCAA Basketball Committee, his plans to consolidate fundraising and his stated goal of graduating 100 percent of student-athletes. A few weeks later came word that the Black Coaches Association will honor him as its Administrator of the Year at a June 7 banquet.
(Sports Illustrated, May 5)

Shape Up, America
Almost two-thirds of Americans are either overweight (10 to 30 pounds over a healthy weight) or obese (more than 30 pounds over). A recent study commissioned by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that that extra weight costs the nation as much as $993 billion in annual medical bills — comparable to the medical bill for smoking. Anne Wolf, a dietitian in the U.Va. Health System, said the report is a wake-up call. “The government is going to get slam-dunked in future obesity costs if it doesn’t address the problem now. As the prevalence of obesity continues to rise, Medicare is going to be picking up the health care tab for these people.”
(USA Today, May 14)