'95 GRADS SUCCEED AGAINST TREMENDOUS ODDS

**	Jeff Stump first became interested in law as a child; a car
wreck that left him blind at the age of 19 did not deter his
interest.  With his seeing-eye dog Trent, Stump will walk to the
podium May 21 to receive his U.Va. law degree. 

	Essentially on his own after his mother died when he was 17,
Stump has pushed himself to accomplish much and to show people how
much a blind person can do.  

		A 1986 graduate of Christiansburg High School, Stump
came to U.Va. as an undergraduate.  In 1992 he graduated with
distinction, in the top one percent of his class, and as a member of
Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor's degree in government and foreign
affairs.  	

	While an undergraduate, Stump took the initiative to educate
the University community about persons with disabilities.  He gave
talks to student groups and helped the University develop
appropriate services.  For example, he worked closely with U.Va.'s
Learning Needs and Evaluation Center.  The local chapter of the
Recording for the Blind used his story to help other chapters learn
how they can assist people, and honored him by asking him to ride in
the Dogwood Parade.  The United Way produced a video about Stump in
which he explained how the organization helps visually impaired
individuals.  

	"In a way, the accident made me stand out.  It has made
people focus on how much I've been able to accomplish," Stump
reflected.  	

	Stump won a Dillard Scholarship, a full scholarship awarded
to a selected few students yearly, to attend U.Va.'s law school.  He
devised his own study system using two tape recorders to handle the
required reading demands of law school.  Readers record texts on one
tape, and Stump records notes on another tape as he listens to the
text.  "When I first started, I was having problems getting the
required reading done, but the law school hired someone to help with
the reading.  That was a tremendous help," he said.

	After graduation he will join an Atlanta law firm in general
practice.  "I am looking forward to helping clients, preferably in
trial work," he said.  For more information, Stump can be reached at
(804) 971-3637.

**	Although his muscular dystrophy may have sapped his
strength, Anthony "Tony" Colosi has only started on a demanding
academic path he has set for himself.  After earning a bachelor's
degree in physics with a double major in mathematics from U.Va. this
May, he will enter Pennsylvania State University to pursue an
advanced degree in astrophysics.
ODDS -- Page 2

	The son of Nancy W. Colosi of Sterling and Joseph A. Colosi
in Manassas, he was in kindergarten when his mother noticed that he
was moving more slowly than his younger brother.  His muscular
dystrophy has required night attendants at U.Va., and the scheduling
of those helpers has been one of the biggest challenges Colosi has
faced.  "It's been hard to find someone to work every night, and
then, of course, there are always last-minute changes. 

	ÒI was not sure I would be able to live away from home, but
it has worked out well.  I am able to move around well in my wheel
chair, and there has been a steady pool of students acting as my
attendants,Ó Colosi reflected.

	Colosi, who first became interested in astronomy while
taking a course at Thomas Jefferson High School in Annadale, hopes
to study the structure of large-scale objects in the universe.  He
is currently finishing an independent physics project on dark
matter, and views math and physics as being key to understanding the
advanced studies in astronomy.  

	"Physics has been great.  I can't wait to learn about
cosmology," said Colosi, who wants to be an astrophysicist.  For
more information, contact him at (804) 979-8011.



May 4, 1995