Month: July 2008

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Reconsidering the Presidency

In today’s show, written by Brevy Cannon, General Assignments writer for University of Virginia Media Relations, we look at a recent Center for Politics event, “Reconsidering the Presidency” held at the University of Virginia in April 2008.

“The vast and ever-increasing amounts of money spent on U.S. political campaigns are a detriment to our democracy. And, contrary to public opinion, the Electoral College is a quirk of American politics that should not be tampered with…”

Those two opinions were shared by three former governors, John Sununu of New Hampshire, Lowell Weicker of Connecticut and Virginia’s Doug Wilder, during the Center for Politics event, “Reconsidering the Presidency” in April 2008…

For more information about the show or to see the full text, visit the Oscar Show’s blog.

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Astronaut and U.Va Associate Dean Kathy Thornton

Kathy Thornton is Associate Dean in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Virginia. Thornton took four trips aboard the space shuttle, and has been in Charlottesville since 1996. She was a guest on the July 7 edition of WINA’s “Charlottesville-Right Now!” with Coy Barefoot. Topics include how she became an astronaut, how to encourage kids to study math and science, and what her first flight was like in 1989.

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Citizen Philosopher: The Ethics of Friendship

Are friendships optional? Are they necessary to live the good life? Is there a universal need to give and receive affection? Where do our feelings about friendships come from? Why do we treat our friends the way we do? Are friendships more “disposable” than they used to be? How do friendships come to be? How much is it by choice? How much is it by chance? Does it require willful action? What are friends for? What are the motives for making and keeping friends? How can we know if a friendship is “true”? What do we expect from friendship? How do expectations differ? Are friendships meant to last forever? What are the ethics of ending a friendship? Is friendship an investment? Is it ethical to end a friendship with unequal investment, “an unbalanced account”? Is it ethical to just fade away? Must we know and must we give a reason for ending a friendship? How do we reconcile the need to grow and to be free with the expectations of friendship? Can we ever fail to profit from our friendship “investment” so long as we see friendship as its own reward without any further expectations?

These are some of the questions asked during Citizen Philosopher’s June podcast. For more information, check out the website.

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Jim Duncan analyzes the Central Virginia housing market

On the July 6, 2008 edition of WNRN’s Sunday Morning Wake-Up Call, real estate blogger Jim Duncan talks with Rick Moore about the state of the Central Virginia housing market. Is it a good time to sell your house? Should you move from renting to owning? Find out more in this podcast from the Charlottesville Podcasting Network.

This is also the last episode of the Wake-Up Call produced by Michael Strickland, who is heading off to college in a few weeks. The Charlottesville Podcasting Network owes a great deal of gratitude to Michael for his volunteering over the past couple of years. Deepak Singh and Sean McCord will be taking over. Good luck, Michael, and thanks for your hard work!

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A Rising Star In Astronomy

In today’s show, written by Karen Doss Bowman is a freelance writer living in Bridgewater, VA, we look at Rachael Beaton, a first year grad student at the University of Virginia, whose galactic discoveries have earned her international attention.

First-year graduate students aren’t usually given historic research assignments. But after years of waiting for the opportunity to make their first observation on the Large Binocular Telescope or LBT, in Tucson, Ariz., UVa’s astronomy faculty voted last fall to bestow the honor on first-year graduate student Rachael Beaton (Astronomy-Physics, Mathematics ’07, MS Astronomy ’10).

Beaton used the LBT, whose construction was completed last fall and is the world’s largest optical telescope in which the University shares ownership, to take images of one of the breakthrough discoveries she had made before receiving her undergraduate degree, a dwarf galaxy she had discovered in 2006…

For more information about the show or to see the full text, visit the Oscar Show’s blog.

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Author James Hemerling on Globality

GlobalityThere’s a new era in global competition, and it’s about to supersede the old model of international business. Fast disappearing are the days of globalization. In its place, a new and more challenging reality — Globality: Competing with Everyone from Everywhere for Everything. Co-author James Hemerling is a senior partner of The Boston Consulting Group, coleader of its Global Advantage initiative, and a core member of its Strategy and Operations practices. He joined Coy Barefoot on the June 27th edition of WINA’s Charlottesville-Right Now with Coy Barefoot.

What is “globality”? According to Hemerling: “In globality, what we have is the rise of a new set of competitors, rising up from China, Indian, Russia, Central Eastern Europe, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, the Middle East. Across the world, a whole new set of companies is rising up, challenging the Western companies. So now, business is no longer globalization flowing in one direction; it’s really flowing in every direction at the same time.”