Whirlwind visit — Charlottesville did not offer a calm welcome to Luke Wilson (below) when he traveled here on April 3 to screen his newest film, “The Wendell Baker Story.” “Lynyrd Skynyrd had a smoother flight than we did,” Wilson quipped, referring to the windy conditions his plane faced coming into town. The turbulence kept Luke’s brother, Andrew Wilson, from attending the screening and reception, a fundraiser for the Virginia Film Festival. Shown at Newcomb Hall Theater, it was the third national screening of the film. The $15 tickets were gone a little over an hour after they went on sale March 31. The screening and a reception at Station restaurant afterwards netted roughly $8,000 for the festival. “The Wendell Baker Story,” follows the main character’s altruistic attempts to set things right wherever he is, from prison to a retirement home. The cast includes Luke and Owen Wilson, as well as Will Ferrell, Eva Mendes and Kris Kristofferson. Luke Wilson wrote the script and co-directed the film with Andrew.
New vaccine promising for cervical cancer, HPV
A worldwide team of scientists, including Dr. Mark H. Stoler, a pathology professor at U.Va.’s Health System, has successfully developed a vaccine — with potential to reduce infection and disease by 90 percent — in four of the human viruses that cause most cervical cancers and genital warts. Genital warts, also known as human papillomavirus, will affect up to 70 percent of sexually active women during their lifetime. The virus causes around 470,000 cases of cervical cancer each year around the world. This year, more than 3,700 women will die of the disease. (April 8)
Weekend symposium honors Jeffrey Hopkins
A symposium marking the retirement of religious studies professor Jeffrey Hopkins after more than three decades of teaching, research and service at U.Va. was held April 8 and 9. Hopkins has been one of the main leaders of Asian Studies at the University, including his founding of U.Va.’s world-famous Buddhist Studies and Tibetan Studies programs, his directing of the Center for South Asian Studies and his remarkable literary output. He is one of the most renowned Buddhist and Tibetan studies scholars of his generation. (April 8-10)
Whirlwind visit — Charlottesville did not offer a calm welcome to Luke Wilson (below) when he traveled here on April 3 to screen his newest film, “The Wendell Baker Story.” “Lynyrd Skynyrd had a smoother flight than we did,” Wilson quipped, referring to the windy conditions his plane faced coming into town. The turbulence kept Luke’s brother, Andrew Wilson, from attending the screening and reception, a fundraiser for the Virginia Film Festival. Shown at Newcomb Hall Theater, it was the third national screening of the film. The $15 tickets were gone a little over an hour after they went on sale March 31. The screening and a reception at Station restaurant afterwards netted roughly $8,000 for the festival. “The Wendell Baker Story,” follows the main character’s altruistic attempts to set things right wherever he is, from prison to a retirement home. The cast includes Luke and Owen Wilson, as well as Will Ferrell, Eva Mendes and Kris Kristofferson. Luke Wilson wrote the script and co-directed the film with Andrew. 