Zintl Leadership Award goes to Wittenborg
It’s not easy being a librarian these days. Technology is revolutionizing the way we record and transmit ideas, and demand remains strong for the good old-fashioned book. A librarian must overlap both extremes, while balancing a budget that never seems to be enough. Somehow, though, Karin Wittenborg (right) has managed not only to survive, but thrive as head of the U.Va. Library. “She makes things happen,” said Arts & Sciences dean Edward L. Ayers, one of the speakers who lauded Wittenborg on Oct. 8 as she was given the U.Va. Women’s Center’s 2004 Elizabeth Zintl Leadership Award. (Oct.12)

Groh thanks faculty
Head football coach Al Groh was happy in his postgame press conference after his Cavaliers defeated Clemson, 30-10, on Oct. 7. But he also understood that weekday night games can be disruptive to the U.Va. community.

“Really, we’re very appreciative of the indulgence of many of the people here who were inconvenienced a little bit by this. You know, it does disrupt the academic circumstances a little bit, disrupted some faculty things, and one thing we’re very cognizant about is the most important group, really, at a university is the faculty. So we hope that they enjoyed it, especially as football fans, and we apologize for any inconveniences that they might have suffered.”

Should people with dementia vote?
Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia affect 4 million Americans, with numbers expected to reach 15 million by 2050. Dementia is a chronic disorder of mental processes due to brain disease. Because age is a chief risk factor for the disease and voter turnout is highest in the 65 to 74 age bracket, the question is: Should these people be entitled to vote? And who makes this assessment? Richard Bonnie, a U.Va. law professor, examined these questions along with a group of experts who have studied voting and dementia. (Sept. 29)

Health System receives $5 million grant for targeting development of leukemia drug
Health System researchers have received a five-year, $5 million grant from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to develop new drug treatments for patients who have leukemia. Although most new cases of leukemia occur in older adults, the disease accounts for about 30 percent of all cancers in children. It is estimated that 33,400 people will be diagnosed with the disease in the United States this year alone. (Oct. 8)

Speaker Wills argues that Iraq War is unjust
Garry Wills (right) “thinks like a lawyer,” said one law professor. “But he also thinks like an architect, a historian and a theologian.” The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of more than two dozen books brought that range of thought to a talk last week in which he argued that the United States’ actions in Iraq failed to meet historic criteria for a “just war.” (Oct. 12)