Headlines @ U.Va.

PLAYING FOR A LIVING, SORT OF
By day, Joby Giacolone is the mild-mannered director of programming and systems development for the Health System’s development office. But in his free time, he becomes … Cosmo the Sheepdog! And the proprietor of Mascot Consulting, which runs training camps for mascot wanna-bes. “It’s a tough business to break into,” he recently told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “You can be the best mascot, but if there’s not a team that’s willing to have a mascot, you’re going to have to find a real job.” Giacolone has donned costumes for pro basketball and baseball teams; now Cosmo makes appearances at minor-league sports and charity events. “Most people think mascots are like, ‘Give me a six-pack of beer and I’ll run around like a crazy person,’” Giacolone said. But “you always have to be planning, thinking about what you’re going to do next.”
(Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 14)

SUMMERTIME, AND THE LIVING IS ... STRESSFUL?
A student who is serious about getting into the best colleges must challenge herself over the summer, right? Perhaps summer study, or foreign travel? Don’t sweat it, says U.Va. admissions dean John A. Blackburn. Not all families can afford such programs, and some students must work. “I find it interesting how some students can make a fascinating summer experience out of what initially appeared to be a boring summer plan,” Blackburn wrote in the Washington Post. “From working as a stevedore on the docks with longshoremen to traveling in France to going to summer school, what really matters is what students take from the experience.” (Washington Post, June 17)

ROAD IDEA DRAWS APPLAUSE
It’s very early in the process, but the University’s notion of extending Stadium Road parallel to Fontaine Avenue, then dipping it in to meet Fontaine near the current entrance to the Fontaine Research Park is gaining some preliminary support. The extension would speed stadium traffic on football game days, provide an alternative to Fontaine every day, and provide access to a possible Fontaine II Research Park on the north side of Fontaine Avenue. Mayor Maurice Cox hailed the idea as “very helpful to the city,” and a Daily Progress editorial seemed to support the idea. However, University spokeswoman Carol Wood cautioned, “It’s a very preliminary concept design. There are no immediate plans to move forward.” (Daily Progress, June 9 and 12)

ON FARM CHEMICALS AND SPERM COUNTS
While a study by a team of researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia suggests that a trio of common farm chemicals may be causing lower sperm counts in Midwestern men, a U.Va. urologist is taking the findings with a grain of salt. “My guess is that for every 100 stories like this, one is real,” said Dr. Stuart Howards, executive secretary for the American Board of Urology. In this case, researchers “could be right. But there have been a lot of things like this that have been wrong.” He called for further lab study. (Associated Press, June 18)