Science without politics

In his neatly appointed office with its volumes of medical references in the West Wing of the UVA Medical Center, Dr. Jonathan Moreno, director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics, speaks softly while his hands remain folded in his lap. With his slight stature, firmly pressed shirt and perfectly trimmed beard, he sits as an […]

You can’t handle the truth

Did American soldiers commit war crimes during the invasion of Afghanistan? According to eyewitnesses, U.S. Special Forces supervised—some say orchestrated—the systematic murder of more than 3,000 captured Taliban soldiers in November 2001. That charge is the centerpiece of a documentary film, Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death, expected to be released in the United States […]

Faded Genes

Seeds…those sleepy little kernels tucked in their winter coats. Not one metabolic quiver until, suddenly and by the millions, they start to move. They travel by ground and by air, from state to state, from December through April. That’s the time of year when discerning growers scour seed catalogues, browsing long lists of plants with […]

Art and Commerce

Economic times are tight in Virginia. And when axes start falling on State budgets, funding for the arts is often the first to be slashed. The Charlottesville-based Piedmont Council of the Arts hopes to dodge the blow by proving that, in Director Nancy Brockman’s words, “The arts are a producing segment of the economy.” That […]

On the right track

Just over the crest of the hill, you see a plume of smoke escape. Instead of the low, familiar, chugging sound, however, you hear infectious music, a sound you haven’t heard before. Slowly Old School Freight Train comes into view—and begins to pick up steam. The band, which is based in Charlottesville, has recently enjoyed […]

Dream Weavers

This little light of mine/I’m gonna let it shine.“ The rehearsal hadn’t officially started yet, but the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Mass Choir was already singing. On a frigid Monday night, January 6, a jumble of people filled the black box theater at Charlottesville High School. Tight clumps of fidgety teenagers waited in line […]

Psycho Analysis

In the wake of last summer’s Enron and WorldCom disasters and other corporate malfeasance along the way, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have been busy trying to restore investors’ confidence. Their reach has extended to Charlottesville, where SNL Financial, a publishing company covering various financial services sectors, […]

Tales from the Gift

Flashlights, GOP handbooks and dirty shirts: very, very costly.   This will not be an O. Henry moment.In what follows you will find no stories of bartered hair and pocket watches. If there is sentimentality in these tales of best and worst gifts, we didn’t put it there. Deploying the sharpest investigative tools, by which […]

Artistic Endeavor

Ice, snow and frigid temperatures be damned, 275 well-heeled patrons and artists pile into the stately University of Virginia Art Museum on Rugby Road on Saturday, December 7. Anticipation, tuxes and formal gowns surround the 55 donated pieces to be silently auctioned at “Seeing Double,” the fete sponsored by the Young Friends of the Museum. […]

Homeland Security

What purpose does a gate serve but to limit access? Depending on the setting, a gate can forbid freedom or promise a new horizon. Or, if you live in Keswick, Glenmore, Lake Monticello or any of the ersatz gated subdivisions around Charlottesville, a gate can rise as a shining symbol of such lifestyle amenities as […]