April 29, 1999 Contact: Fariss Samarrai (804) 924-3778 samarrai@virginia.edu SEVEN SETS OF TWINS TO GRADUATE FROM U.VA. MAY 23 The graduating class of 1999 at the University of Virginia has seven sets of twins -- all of them in-state students hailing from Richmond, Annandale, Chantilly, McLean, Lynchburg, West Point, and Roanoke. Three sets are identical, four are fraternal. Four of the sets are men, three are women. While two sets of the fraternal twins look almost identical, one pair of fraternals reports they have identical IQs and came in with identical SAT scores. Five sets decided to major in the same subject -- identical degrees will be awarded in chemical engineering, economics, government, Spanish, and biology. One set of fraternal brothers has been on the cheerleading squad since they arrived as first-year students. Several sets have joined the same fraternities and sororities, while others have decided to follow different paths while at U.Va. The following is information about each set of twins. Jenna and Courtney Caprio are identical twins from West Point. Jenna is a government and religious studies major; Courtney is a government major. They grew up on a farm and attended West Point High School. They both like sports and reading and going to the beach. Both are involved in volunteer activities with such organizations as Habitat for Humanity, University of Virginia Democrats and Amnesty International. Both students plan to attend law school. Darren and Richard Catalano are fraternal twins from Roanoke. They were born in the Bronx, N. Y. and lived in W. Harrison, N.Y. until their senior year of high school when their family moved to Roanoke. They finished high school at Cave Spring High School there. They both have been on the cheerleading team at U.Va. for four years. They are both economics majors and members of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity. The twins plan to work in business and finance after graduation. MORE 2 Nanda and Deepa Channaiah are fraternal twins who were born in Lynchburg and grew up in Roanoke. They attended William Byrd High in Vinton and the Roanoke Valley Governor's School for Science and Technology. Both are biology majors, they are Echols Scholars, they perform Indian Classical Dancing and like to play basketball. They plan to attend medical school in Ohio this fall. They say they have similar interests and goals, but have different personalities. Stephen and Jeff Dershewitz are fraternal twins who grew up in Annandale. Stephen attended J.E.B. Stuart High School in Falls Church, Va. and is a Spanish major. Jeff attended Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and is an environmental science major. Stephen is a program director for the Migrant Aid Program at U.Va., he coaches a youth soccer team and is a member of Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. Jeff draws a comic strip for the student newspaper, the Cavalier Daily, and likes playing sports. They have the same SAT and IQ scores. Nick and Alex Rodriguez are fraternal twins who grew up in McLean and attended McLean High School. Nick is a Spanish and biology major, and Alex is a Spanish and history major. Both love to play soccer and snowboard. They say they share common musical interests and have similar personalities, but they have different friends. Both plan to work in Washington, D. C., for a year before going to graduate school. Sarah and Jessica Stockton are identical twins who grew up in Chantilly and attended Chantilly High School. Sarah transferred from Loyola College in Maryland to attend U.Va. for her final two years. She is a member of U.Va. Boosters, Delta Gamma sorority and is an honor advisor. She is a psychology major. Jessica belongs to the same sorority and has been a member of ROTC for four years. She is a nursing major and will serve in the Army as a nurse at Ft. Bragg, N.C., next year. Michael and Matt Switzer are identical twins who are both chemical engineering majors. They were born and grew up in Richmond and attended Mills E. Godwin High School there. Matt will be going to work for BASF Corporation and Michael will enter graduate school at U.Va. in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Both enjoy sports and the outdoors. ### Expert on Twins: For information about twins in the general population, contact Irving Gottesman, U.Va. professor of psychology, at (804) 924-0661. He has spent 42 years studying the personalities and behaviors of twins and was one of the lead investigators in the famous Minnesota Twins study several years ago. He's a very good interview. Facts About Twins: *Between 1973 and 1990, twin births increased two times over the rate of singleton births. Reasons include the fact that more women are waiting longer to have children (increasing their chances of having twins) and the increased use of fertility drugs. Identical twinning occurs in one of every 250 live births, and fraternal twinning occurs in 2.4 percent of live births. * Worldwide there are about 125 million living twins (according to 1996 data from the CDC. The percentage of twins born that year was 2.6 percent). * About one-third of all twin births are identical. * Monozygotic, or identical, twins occur when a single conception splits into two around the time the fertilized egg is becoming implanted in the womb (usually between the 4th and 12th day after conception). Identical twins share the same genes, they look very similar, and almost always are of the same sex. * Dizygotic, or fraternal, twins are the result of separate eggs becoming fertilized, resulting in two completely distinct pregnancies in the womb at the same time. These twins can be mixed sexes and they resemble each other no more than do regular siblings. * Twins occur on average in one of 90 live births, or roughly two percent of all live babies born. Ninety-seven to 98 percent of plural deliveries are twins, without accounting for the increases in super-twin births due to the use of fertility treatments. * Identical twins make up about one third of all twin births but their occurrence has nothing to do with heredity, unlike fraternal twinning. * Identical twinning occurs randomly in all racial groups and follows no discernable hereditary pattern. * Fraternal twinning varies among racial groups, occurring most frequently in blacks, less so in whites, and least frequently among Asians. Fraternal twinning occurs most often in older women whose families have a history of fraternal twinning.