NEW PROGRAM AIMS TO HELP BLIND PEOPLE GET JOBS
The Darden School of Business Administration is doing what it can to help the blind become business leaders. A new program that began this year teaches financial accounting, general management, operations and production management, and customer and managerial communication to blind people looking to become more successful professionally. According to statistics from the National Institute for the Blind, about 70 percent of blind people are unemployed in this country, and another 10 percent are underemployed. The courses are being taught over an 18-month period at U.Va.’s Northern Virginia campus in Falls Church. Graduates receive a Darden Certificate of Management and continuing education credits. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Sept. 12)

U.VA. MEDICAL CENTER WILL RECEIVE FREE CANCER DRUGS
Virginia residents who have been fleeced by drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb may be eligible for a free supply, thanks to a recent legal settlement. Bristol-Myers will be giving out 13,000 vials of Taxol, an ovarian and breast cancer drug, to two hospitals, including the U.Va. Medical Center and the Massey Cancer Center in Richmond. In 1992, The National Cancer Institute spent $30 million of taxpayer money to develop and test Taxol. The lawsuits claimed that Bristol-Myers then
obtained patents fraudulently and blocked companies from putting a generic version on the market for several years, which caused patients and states to pay 30 percent more for the drug. (Daily Press, Sept. 18)

WEALTHY STUDENTS OUTNUMBER ALL OTHERS AT NATION’S ELITE COLLEGES
During the past decade, the financial gap among students has been growing at elite colleges across the country. The number of students who qualify for need-based financial aid has slipped from about a third of undergraduates to a quarter or less. Fewer than 9 percent qualify for Pell Grants, while 58 percent of last year’s incoming class reported family incomes of $100,000 or more. In an effort to reverse this trend, last February U.Va. unveiled Access UVa, a program to help middle-
income students by eliminating or capping the amount of loans they must take out. (USA Today, Sept. 20)

DARDEN CLIMBS THE RANKINGS LADDER
The Darden School of Business Administration is considered one the top dozen in the nation, according to a survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal. Up from its No. 20 ranking last year, Darden received especially high marks for its business ethics. The school placed ahead of the business schools at Harvard and Duke universities and one spot
behind the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The rankings were based on surveys of corporate recruiters who have recently visited the business schools. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Sept. 23)