fromtheeditr

Yard Sale: Sometimes They're Worth the Stop

2013-05-24T16:49:00.001-04:00

As I was walking out the door to attend a news conference this morning, I noted that my sweet old lady neighbor was having a yard sale, so--not being one to resist this specific temptation--I thought I'd give it a once-over.

Here's what I came away with. For $8 I got all this and a new-ish single bed sheet that I'll use as a photo backdrop. Five of the pieces here are new. The jewelry bag is hand-made by my neighbor's daughter.

I don't know if any of the stones are real or if any of the "gold" and "silver" are gold and silver, but I don't care, either. I'm not wearing them.

Love this stuff. really pretty, seems nicely made for the most part and generally useful.

This is why I can't find my way around a yard sale or flea market.

Question of the Day: Where Was the Local Daily?

2013-05-24T16:11:00.002-04:00

The tent was full, but did not contain a rep from the local daily.

The newsie question of the day: Where the hell was the local daily this morning when the new The Bridges complex, which will extend downtown Roanoke and is expected to be a huge economic boost to the city, was celebrated with a ground breaking? The event was about a mile from the paper's building, so cost would not have been an issue, I'd guess.

I just looked at its online edition and there is no mention of the ground-breaking. I heard a number of people--prominent people--at the event asking the same question. The rest of the news media was there and even I--no longer a member of the daily mob of media--was in attendance at what I think we all considered to be a major event. In less than a week, the local daily has pretty well bagged on Local Colors and this event.

Not good, boys and girls. Not good at all.

Photo of the Day: 'A Fun Lunch Date'

2013-05-24T16:02:00.002-04:00

Ran into my buddy Sam Steidle this morning at the groundbreaking for the new Bridges complex on South Jefferson Ave. and we stopped for lunch at Norah's afterwards for a few words. Sam has one of the most active and inventive business minds I know and she's always using it for somebody's good.

She recently started teaching entrepreneurism at Virginia Western Community College and for the last couple of years, she's housed very small businesses in her Business Lounge in downtown Roanoke.
Sam's always full of exciting new ideas and is a sponge for anyone offering anything interesting. She's a fun lunch date.

(I neglected to get the name of the delightful young woman who took this picture, but she's a waitress at Norah's whose father was an avid photographer.)

The Bridges Kicks Off Riverside Project in Roanoke

2013-05-24T15:44:00.002-04:00

Ground is broken for the new The Bridges complex on South Jefferson Street in Roanoke.

Artist's drawing of Phase I.

Bern Ewert talks to the TV people.

Bern Ewert talks, Aaron keeps the graphic covered.

Here's the money behind the project.

Ground was broken this morning for another significant extension of Downtown Roanoke, this one a complement to the Virginia Tech Carilion complex on South Jefferson Street. The 22-acre Bridges project will begin with a restaurant, apartment building, office space and river walk directly across from VTC.

Here is the press release:

Developers today broke ground on a multi-year, mixed-use development that includes new apartments, restaurants, offices and retail space on the site of a former mill and scrap yard – the largest development of its kind in Roanoke.

Paula Byron (right) represented VTC Research Institute.

The 22-acre project, named The Bridges, will expand downtown Roanoke along South Jefferson Street, complementing the Virginia Tech-Carilion School of Medicine & Research Institute and Riverside office complex currently across the street, as well as an adjacent site under the Walnut Street bridge.

Over the next decade, The Bridges is planned to grow to 1 million square feet of residential, retail and office space that will connect downtown with the Roanoke River to create a destination that will include a public river walk, kayak launch and riverfront dining.

Construction is set to begin in June.

Aaron Ewert introduces his dad, Bern.

“The Bridges has the potential to further transform Roanoke into a vibrant, livable city where people of all ages can live, work and play in an area designed for convenience and connectivity,” said Bern Ewert, former Roanoke city manager who envisioned the project and co-founder of Roanoke River Associates, which founded the project.

“Providing additional public access to the river is a crucial component of this project as we extend downtown, further building upon new and revitalized construction that has increased the number of downtown residents and dining options.

“This bold project took the work of a lot of people and organizations, and we are grateful for the unwavering support and cooperation of Carilion Clinic, the City of Roanoke and the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority to clear and prepare the land for development,” Ewert added.

The Bridges name is a nod to two wide and distinctive bridges (Jefferson Street and Walnut Street) bisecting the development. The name also refers to how the project will extend the downtown core to South Jefferson Street and the surrounding neighborhoods.

Bern Ewert at the podium.

“Symbolically, as our city moves from its industrial heritage to an economy built on knowledge, medicine and technology, The Bridges connotes how the city is moving forward by crossing an important bridge,” Ewert added. “As this project transforms a former industrial site to one of life, ideas and innovation, it’s very much a bridge to our future.”

“This is a major milestone in Roanoke’s history,” added Roanoke Mayor David Bowers. “The development team has a track record of creating vibrant, active and dynamic multi-use projects by preserving the character and history of older buildings and creating new options. This project is crucial to connecting downtown to the river – a key step for any great river city. Great cities have great downtowns, and many of them have rivers. We will soon be able to say we are one of them, bringing new energy and vitality to our riverfront as we continue to redefine our future.”

Phase I: Restaurant, apartment building, office space and river walk

The Bridges is being developed by Richmond-based WVS Companies, which purchased Roanoke River Associates and has worked on numerous projects that reuse existing buildings and amenities to create new communities. The property is ideally located to serve employees at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital as well as employees and students of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute and the Jefferson College of Health Sciences. WVS is the developer of Rocketts Landing in Richmond, an urban community on the banks of the James River.

WDBJ7's Joe Dashiel interviews Mayor David Bowers

The property is divided into two sections – the Jefferson Street District and the River District – with three blocks and two points of access to South Jefferson Street. The first phase of The Bridges will include a 6,684-square-foot restaurant/coffee house, office space and a 139,084-square-foot, 157-unit apartment building along South Jefferson Street. It will include a public promenade along the river, kayak launch, sidewalks and streetscapes.

The project has received $10 million in financing from the City of Roanoke for public infrastructure such as riverside park, sidewalks, landscaping and new roadways within the triangular-shaped site.

The restaurant/coffee house will be located in an existing building that once was part of a lumber yard. The look of the historic building, located on the southern end of the property, will be preserved during its rehabilitation as a dining hotspot.

Journalist Valerie Garner gets the shot.

The new apartment building, to be constructed on a new frontage road, will include one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and lower-level parking. The project is targeting both working professionals and students with a modern, industrial aesthetic appeal to contrast with historical structures on the property.

he apartments will include an on-site leasing office, meeting room, game room, fitness center and club room. A courtyard will include a trellised seating area, built-in gas grills, fire pit, water feature and lawn.

The apartments feature a contemporary design, with an exterior coated metal and large, partially enclosed balconies with metal railings and side metal panels and large windows.

The first phase also will include 31,000 square feet of rehabilitated commercial space in two of the six historic structures slated for adaptive reuse on the site. One of them includes the Trolley Barn, close to the Walnut Street bridge. It’s an ideal location for a microbrewery, gym or creative space.

The Trolley Barn housed street trolleys during the early 20^th century and with its concrete construction, high ceilings and numerous skylights is planned to be multi-tenanted space located along the river walk.Also planned – an office complex ideal for medical-related businesses, financial services companies, start-ups and other service companies. This new construction will front South Jefferson Street with three stories of office and retail space on top of ground-level parking.

Sam Steidle of the Business Lounge shows interest.

Phase II: Additional retail, housing and entertainment options available

If successful, The Bridges development will extend to the former site of Virginia Bridge & Ironworks property for additional retail, entertainment and housing options.

“This development has everything we look for in a mixed-use project,” says Jason Vickers-Smith, owner of WVS. “Our team loves the Blue Ridge Mountains and we enjoy the ease of doing business in this friendly region. We are excited to break ground on a project that will change the landscape of Roanoke for future generations to enjoy.”

A big crowd showed up for the annnouncement.

“We are confident that WVS can achieve long-term success based on the company’s proven developments to reintroduce abandoned or historic property to the public,” Ewert added.

“The Bridges will play a major role in Roanoke’s current adaptive reuse movement found throughout our urban core. Along with our existing recreational amenities such as the greenway, Mill Mountain Park and River’s Edge Sports Complex, The Bridges will become a destination for the Roanoke Valley for decades to come.”

Finishing the Greenway Is Now a Reality

2013-05-24T09:32:00.002-04:00

Liz Belcher: "Five years."

For those of us who believe that the Roanoke Valley Greenway is one of the most important economic development projects in many years, the word from the Department of Transportation that it is forking over $14 million--$12 million to finish a 21-mile stretch--to the project is something to cheer.

For all its problems, the greenway is probably as popular a government initiative as I can remember--and I've been here since 1971. Almost nobody doesn't like it and those who don't mostly dislike the fact that they can't have it for themselves, without the traffic it draws.

Your fave editor looking for Parkway pix.

The $14 million will allow an uninterrupted road bed from Green
Hill Park in Salem to the Blue Ridge Parkway near the Bedford County line in Roanoke County. That's 21 miles of mostly flat trail that's easy to bike, easy to walk--unless you get all that traffic and start running into each other.

This is not an especially pretty greenway, though parts of it are quite nice, but it is one that is heavily used. Lynchburg has a much prettier greenway meandering through the city and out over Percival's Island, but it lacks the sheer distance of Roanoke's trail.

Let me issue congratulations to my pal Liz Belcher, who runs the greenways and has raised most of the money to build them, and to the committee that wrote the grant request for the $14 million. I've probably asked Liz a dozen times when the greenway would be finished and her answer has always been "five years." That's a little closer to true now.

(Photo of me by Greg Vaughn for Roanoke City calendar; photo of Liz by me for FRONT magazine.)

Uh, Would You Please Explain That Explanation?

2013-05-23T09:41:00.001-04:00

If you think that by doing a certain thing you risk either a charter being revoked, you think that counter-parties in a massive financial institution may go away, you think that there is a risk that many, many innocent people will be harmed from a resolution and by another resolution you think you can mitigate the risk of innocent people suffering, the economy being affected, and you can hone in on those and the institutions and address the issues underlying. To the Department of Justice, that's a very real factor, and so it is a factor you consider.

--Lanny Breuer, (here) former assistant attorney general for the criminal division of the Justice Department's response when asked why the agency did not pursue a criminal indictment against a British banking monstrosity, which had ... well ... broken the rules.

Roland Lazenby and the Biography Lecture

2013-05-22T22:10:00.002-04:00

Roland Lazenby shows an example of children's biography.

The class hung on every word.

Roland makes a point.

Roland Lazenby taught, told stories, asked the class for examples and experiences in his hour and a half class tonight for the Writers Series of the Roanoke Regional Writers Conference.

Roland, who has had a hand in nearly five dozen books, talked about biography in most of its forms, beginning with young adult books on through some of the more difficult tasks--some of which he has been involved in of late.

A crowd of professional writers hung on every word. Roland is nothing if not animated and informed, which made this second in the series more than a little worthwhile.

June 19 at Community High, the Series will be host for Karen Chase, whose book Bonjour 40, has caused something of a minor sensation in publishing circles of late. It is a self-published collection from a blog and Karen, who used to own a design shop in Roanoke, but now works out of Richmond, will talk about how she did it.

Day's Photo: The Grandfish Hits the Water for the Season

2013-05-22T16:19:00.005-04:00

The swim team season for my grandfish Maddie's Houndogs (Hunting Hills CC) has officially opened and Mads has on her game face. This was at practice yesterday. The kid's pumped.

Free Class: Start Writing That Biography You've Been Putting Off

2013-05-21T11:12:00.001-04:00

Roland Lazenby at his Writers Conference class in January.

Roland Lazenby, who has written in the neighborhood of five dozen books, will talk about biography Wednesday at 6:30 at Community High School in downtown Roanoke during the second edition of the Writers Series classes. These classes are an extension of the Roanoke Regional Writers Conference and are free.

Roland, who teaches journalism at the college level in addition to his book writing, has become quite proficient with the biography and recently finished Black Jesus, a bio of Michael Jordan. He will share some of the inside workings of the biographer's trade during the hour and a half class. I took the opportunity to get a quick bumper-sticker answer from him in light of the upcoming class.

Here's the question and the answer:

What is the most important step in helping to narrow your focus when writing a biography and how do you go about it?

The single most important thing is obviously the right idea. That's where I'm beginning. That's the heart of so much success in all media. Developing ideas.

First, understanding the media market place and the shifting nature of publishing products. Second, divergent thinking, the making of lists, then breaking down and analyzing your lists.

You'll get a lot more of this kind of information, as well as an excellent networking opportunity with the region's writerly types. Bring your own beverage and we'll pass the hat at the end of the session to help cover expenses. If you don't have the money to contribute, don't worry about it. Your presence is requested in any case.

No More Hotdogs 'For the Rest of Their Lives'

2013-05-20T11:35:00.001-04:00

This will become a hotdog. Wanna bite?

The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) has just completed a detailed review of more than 7,000 clinical studies covering links between diet and cancer. Its conclusion is rocking the health world with startling bluntness: Processed meats are too dangerous for human consumption. Consumers should stop buying and eating all processed meat products for the rest of their lives.

--Institute for Natural Healing (here), which says this includes all the stuff you dearly love, but would be loathe to watch being made

Roland Lazenby Teacher at 2nd Writers Series Class Wednesday

2013-05-20T09:37:00.002-04:00

Me (left) with Roland when he picked up his Perry F. Kendig writing award.

Roland Lazenby, who has written nearly 60 books, mostly biography and sports, is the guest teacher Wednesday at Community High School for the second session of the Writers Series, sponsored by the Roanoke Regional Writers Conference. Gametime is 6:30 p.m. and the class is in the auditorium (enter the left-hand door on the front of the school).

Roland's next book may be his biggest: Black Jesus, a biography of basketball player Michael Jordan. It comes on the heels of his popular Jerry West, a biography of the Los Angeles Lakers star and executive. I've read a significant portion of Black Jesus (as well as a number of Roland's other books) and I can assure you that this is not just a sports book. It is a slice of the American pie and one most of you are not familiar with. Roland's chapters on Jordan's family history in Eastern North Carolina are riveting. His grandfather, especially, is a towering character.

Roland, who has taught journalism at the college level (Tech and Radford) for a number of years, will talk about organizing and researching a biography and he'll take your questions. He has been one of the anchors at the Writers Conference annually and journalist Beth Macy, who has a book coming out soon on the furniture industry, says his encouragement led her to write the book. Roland is one of the most generous and caring writers I know, taking time with people who are inexperienced or who need to get over a writers' hump.

Join us. It's free (we pass a hat to pay expenses) and you'll enjoy it. There is plenty of parking. Bring your own beverage (nothing alcoholic, please)..

'Star Trek Into Darkness' Thoroughly Enjoyable

2013-05-19T11:23:00.002-04:00

I don't think anybody would ever call me a "Trekkie," but I enjoy a lot about the franchise and the newest two movie iteration, I think, represents the best of them all. I love the young crew, shown at a time when they're developing the personalities we all know, using lines we've come to expect ("I'm a doctor, dammit, Jim, not a mechanic").

The latest movie ("Star Trek: Into Darkness") features Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as Kirk and Spock and a group of familiars, looking and sounding like the younger versions of characters we know like family. Director J.J. Abrams knows where his bread is buttered with this franchise and it's not with a deep and involving story line that has a high level of sophistication.

Star Trek is about threats to civilization, good sense, kindness, diversity, inter-galactic cooperation and it most often involves a super-villian, Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan Noonien Singh, reprising Ricardo Maltalban's original role in Star Trek II, 1988. Khan is a superman, designed and built 300 years before this episode takes place, but still a force.

I loved the movie, even if there were some time warps with the story line. I appreciate the writing that gives homage to the characters' personalities and shows how they developed. Spock's involvement with Nyota Ohura is a special treat and the source of some of the best--of many--laugh lines in Trek. The FX and staging/sets are simply wonderful (Academy Award stuff) and the people who did the casting know their stuff. "Into Darkness" has some flaws, but they're easy to ignore and I wanted to applaud when was over. It's selling out all over, so get there early.

This one, like so many, benefits little (none in my eyes) from 3D. It's a $3-$4 ticket gimmick that I just don't get. The 2D's quite good for what the 3D is supposed to make exponentially better.

Photo of the Day, Too: Hanging with the Gulz

2013-05-18T18:55:00.001-04:00

Leah (with the Madonna look) loves up Maggie and Madeline (who looks exhausted).

Love this shot of Leah and the kids on the Center in the Square roof.

Buddies Maddie and Maggie on the roof.

Viking leader Jeff Rigdon with Mads and Maggie.

Jeff pulling Pearl Fu, Maggie and Maddie in the rikshaw at Local Colors.

My Leah looking as pretty as only Leah can.

Your favorite fat editor: "I am NOT retired, dammit!"

Here're some shots from our little downtown Roanoke excursion today for the Local Colors parade and official re-opening day at Center in the Square.

Photo of the Day: TV from Above

2013-05-18T18:42:00.002-04:00

This is what it looked like from the third floor of the spiral stairway at Center in the Square today. The guys on the right are from a local TV station (I neglected to determine which one) and they're interviewing the guy on the left, who's taking in the newly renovated attraction on Roanoke City Market. There was a big crowd on hand today--partly because a lot of the stuff was free (that which wasn't free was pretty expensive).

Roanoke's Celebration of Diversity: Local Colors

2013-05-18T17:51:00.002-04:00

Hey! Did you know there are PEOPLE in those dragon thingys?

Rakan Al Kethreiry of Saudi Arabia was all smiles.

Pearlie Mae Fu remains the Queen of Local Colors.

Mary Rizig of South Sudan.

South Koreans nearly stole the show with their showmanship and color.

These lovelies are from the Phillippines.

My grandgirl Maddie the Viking Princess with one of her Viking homies.

Roman centurion was very serious.

An exquisite young Korean woman and her dad.

Buddies Maggie, Pearlie Mae and Maddie, my grandgirl.

Amy Rallos of the Phillippines photographs her troupe.


This little sweetie carried her country's banner.

Jeffrey Rigdon and the rowdy Vikings pulling/pushing Pearl Fu's rikshaw at the front of the parade.

Japanese Akemi Fuwa and daughter Saya.

Young woman carries the flag of Bangladesh.

A young Peruvian in full colors.

The Peruvian girl above and some of her friends.

Young Eva Loos of India.

Aklilu Grant of Ethopia.

Kicking off the parade with the local colors of Local Colors.

Tents along Jefferson Street held the good food of the nations.

The baret is obligatory when it comes to France.

Bimini never looked so Irish.

The flag is Brazil, the costume isn't.


Heading for Downing Street.

Sierra Leone and South Sudan, side-by-side.

The parasols add a sweet touch.

These young Philippinos performed a dance after the parade.

Japanese mother-daughter.

Koreans marching up the hill. The tassels on their hats played their own tune.

Norway's flag flies big and small.

The 22nd edition of Pearl Fu's spectacular Roanoke celebration of its international diversity, Local Colors, went off under overcast skies and bright smiles today in downtown Roanoke. I can't confirm it, but it appeared the number of nations represented this year was down from the well over 100 of last year, but the parade was not unusually long because of the presence of organizations whose participation was a mystery to me (scouts, environmental organizations and the like).

In any case, in the city of parades, this one is special and the colors alone are enough to satisfy the most hardened parade veteran. T'was a lovely day.

Blacklisted Foods: Here Are Some Surprises

2013-05-15T09:49:00.001-04:00

EatLocalGrown (here), a website that keeps you up on what's hot and what's not in healthy foods, has a new blacklist of 12 corporations that you should avoid. The 12 are mostly big names (Pepsi and Coke, Heinz, Campbell's, Nestle, Kellogg's, General Mills, Monsanto, etc.), but it's the subsidiaries of these companies--which oppose GMO labeling in our foods--that will raise your eyebrows.

If you think you're buying healthy and wise when you're in the middle aisles of the grocery store, where these companies' foods are sold, then you'll need to re-consider. Here are some of the names on the blacklist:

Pepperidge Farms
V8 (what'll I do for gazpacho?)
Vitamin Water/ Dasani (bottled water, even when the water isn't considered, should be banned)
Minute Maid
Hebrew National (my heart aches on this one)
Orville Redenbacher Organic (say it ain't so, Orville)
Silk (drink milk, for god's sake)
Nature Valley and Fiber One
Weight Watchers (go organic, drop white foods, lose weight)
Celestial Seasonings
Earth's Best (these guys love liberal-sounding names)
Kashi (there's a picture of me in FRONT holding a huge box of Kashi, underscoring my liberal credentials; guess that was premature)
Nutrigrain ("nutrition," "grains," bullshit)
Triscuit (SHIT! I loveTriscuits)
Snapple
Gerber (Gerber! for chrissakes. Are they killing babies? Where's the "pro-life" movement?)
Tropicana
Knorr
Ben & Jerry's (is nothing sacred?)

Five Foods to Avoid: Here's the List

2013-05-15T09:43:00.003-04:00

Concentrated orange juice is at the top of the list

Something called the Trim Down Club (here) presents a long and mostly annoying infomercial online that actually has some excellent information in it from nutritionists.

This ad is built around the hook that it will tell you about five foods you can eliminate from your diet in order to drop weight pretty quickly. It's quite a wade through the ad to get there, but, frankly, I found a lot of the information useful and supportive of what I have learned by studying my Type II diabetes, the one caused by being a lard-ass.

Two of the foods--processed soy products and genetically modified (GMO) corn--are primary products of evil food giant Monsanto, and you're hearing about them everywhere you go. They both have the nutrition stripped out of them in processing and are not only bad nutritionally, but dangerous--foods that can kill you.

The GMO corn, for example, is banned in most First World countries, but our bought-and-paid-for Congress won't even require labeling in this country. We are pretty much at the mercy of Monsanto if we buy corn and soy products. Even something as innocuous appearing as corn on the cob is most often GMO corn.

The other foods the Trim Down Club says you should avoid (because they promote the retention of fat) are concentrated juices ("one of the worst things you can [put into] your body"), margarine (eat butter, yay!), and whole wheat breads and pasta. The last one surprised the hell out of me because I had replaced white flour with whole grain flour. This program says to stay away from all those comfort foods or eat them in moderation with a capital "M".

This advice was also contained in the advertorial: "You can't exercise your way out of poor nutrition." And there was this gem--one I like--"Snack between meals and burn fat." That does not mean that you can eat Ding Dongs, but it does mean you should have six or seven "mini-meals" a day and keep your primary meals at a modest size. That stabilizes your blood sugar and keeps you from being hungry and over-stuffing.

Charles Steger Leaving Eventful Tech Presidency

2013-05-14T10:55:00.003-04:00

Steger

What may have been the most important and eventful presidency in the history of Virginia Tech--just 14 years old--is coming to an end with the announced departure of Charles Steger, a man whose vision led to eye-brow-raising accomplishments.

Under Steger, Tech's stature in the U.S. grew across the board, whether it was bioinformatics, football, arts, a major research partnership with a hospital, fundraising, mega-computers, physical plant expansion or enrollment, Steger was riding the lead horse.

Impressive to me was the emergence of the writing curriculum in the English Department. Some of the best writing teachers and writers in an area rich in that area are now from Tech.

I've always thought he was the perfect president for his time, but it is entirely possibly that he will be remembered most for Tech's response--or lack of it, if you ask his detractors--to the killing of 32 students by a crazed gunman. That's entirely unfortunate, but the whole episode was tragic for everyone involved.

His close work with former Carilion Chairman Ed Murphy and current CEO Nancy Agee in founding the Virginia Tech-Carilion Research Institute has been lauded by Roanoke business leaders as one of the most important developments in the history of the city.

Here's Tech's release on Steger's decision:

Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger has announced his intention to step down as university president. The university's board of visitors will assemble a search committee immediately.

Steger will remain as president until the search concludes and his replacement begins work.

“When one is totally absorbed in doing what one loves, 14 years pass in a nanosecond," said Steger. “These years have been the highlight of my career in higher education, and it has been my privilege to serve as president during a period in which we have strengthened our academic programs and expanded our research and outreach programs.

“As a three-time graduate of this institution, Virginia Tech has afforded me the tools for leadership and personal fulfillment. I have been doubly blessed because I then had the opportunity to spend virtually my entire career in the service of this great university,” said Steger.

“We sadly accept President Steger’s desire to step down as president,” said Mike Quillen, rector of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. “He has had a long and successful tenure but we understand his desire to ratchet back the extraordinary commitment of a major university president. Charles has truly been outstanding, visionary, and productive. I believe when history looks back upon his tenure as president, he will be ranked among the best of Virginia Tech’s strong leaders. He has advanced Virginia Tech’s position and our ability to serve the commonwealth on many levels.”

Steger has spent virtually his entire career at Virginia Tech leading it from one superlative to another. Since becoming president in 2000, the university has increased it research portfolio by more than 300 percent, grown enrollment from 27,869 to 31,087, increased graduate enrollment increased by 12 percent, raised more than $1 billion in private funding, added more than 2.5 million square feet of buildings, formed a school of biomedical engineering, created a school of medicine, and joined the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Early in his tenure, Steger charted a course to bolster the research enterprise and compete among the nation’s elite universities. He oversaw creation of broad-based research institutes capable of garnering large-scale, multi-disciplinary sponsored research grants. He made significant investments in selected life science programs. University sponsored research moved from $192 million in 2000 to more than $450 million today.

Over the course of his presidency, Virginia Tech has increasingly become a first-choice school in the mid-Atlantic region for highly achieving students. The average grade point average of incoming freshmen moved from 3.54 to 3.92 (on a 4.0 scale) and SAT average changed from 1173 to 1212 during his time at the helm.

He adopted a business model that invested in seven large centralized research institutes: Virginia Tech Transportation Institute; Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Sciences; Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute; Virginia Bioinformatics Institute; Fralin Life Sciences Institute; Institute for Society, Culture and Environment; and the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology. The institute format allowed Virginia Tech to compete for and win large-scale multidisciplinary contracts.

Steger partnered with Carilion Clinic to create the innovative Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute forming the fifth medical school in Virginia. The Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute has quickly garnered world-wide attention for unique new approaches to neuroscience.

A hallmark of his administration was the realization of a 50-year dream for Hokie fans – entry into the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2004. Football won four conference titles in the first eight years of play.

Steger championed the arts investing in liberal arts and arts programming. He was the driving force behind the new Center for the Arts scheduled to open this fall.

Along with two other Virginia university presidents, he helped write legislation giving greater operating autonomy to senior state universities.

Steger had a knack for fundraising. In 2011, the school completed a seven-year campaign raising more than $1.1 billion. Earlier in 1998, under his leadership as vice president for development and university relations, he led a fund raising effort garnering $337 million.

Virginia Tech made history in 2003 when it built the “terascale” supercomputer, System X. Using off-the-shelf Apple computers, System X was at the time the fastest university computer in the world and third fastest of any computer – business, government, or academic.

Placing the Blame in Libya: Republican Budget Ax

2013-05-14T09:11:00.002-04:00

For fiscal 2013, the GOP-controlled House proposed spending $1.934 billion for the State Department’s Worldwide Security Protection program — well below the $2.15 billion requested by the Obama administration. House Republicans cut the administration’s request for embassy security funding by $128 million in fiscal 2011 and $331 million in fiscal 2012.

(Negotiations with the Democrat-controlled Senate restored about $88 million of the administration’s request.)

Last year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that Republicans’ proposed cuts to her department would be “detrimental to America’s national security” — a charge Republicans rejected. ...

... (Republican VP candidate) Ryan, Issa and other House Republicans voted for an amendment in 2009 to cut $1.2 billion from State operations, including funds for 300 more diplomatic security positions. Under Ryan’s budget, non-defense discretionary spending, which includes State Department funding, would be slashed nearly 20 percent in 2014, which would translate to more than $400 million in additional cuts to embassy security.

--Dana Milbank in the Washington Post in October, 2012, before the election (here)

(Photo: globalpost.com)

Quote of the Day: Who Makes the Best Reporters?

2013-05-13T18:19:00.002-04:00

Great actors Redhoff playing great reporters Woodstein

Do you want to know what kind of person makes the best reporter? I’ll tell you. A borderline sociopath. Someone smart, inquisitive, stubborn, disorganized, chaotic, and in a perpetual state of simmering rage at the failings of the world. Once upon a time you saw people like this in every newsroom in the country. They often had chaotic personal lives and they died early of cirrhosis or a heart attack. But they were tough, angry SOBs and they produced great stories.

Do you want to know what kind of people get promoted and succeed in the modern news organization? Social climbers. Networkers. People who are gregarious, who “buy in” to the dominant consensus, who go along to get along and don’t ask too many really awkward questions. They are flexible, well-organized, and happy with life.

-- Brett Arends in the Wall Street Journal (here) in a story about how the news media is failing us all

Pay Writers and You'll Likely Get Better Media

2013-05-13T13:15:00.002-04:00

The Wall Street Journal's Media Watch (here) has an interesting piece today on why media is in such trouble with the public. One of the reasons, it finds, among the "5 corrupting influences," is pay. Here's what the piece says:

A media outlet recently advertised a job for “an experienced writer” with a “solid” record of publishing articles in outlets such as the New York Times, National Geographic and so on. Salary? The job was unpaid. The posting was reported by Jim Romenesko, the media writer. It was not an isolated incident. A major non-profit media outlet known to me is looking for columns from top-quality writers. The pay? Fifty bucks an item. Good luck with that.

A liberal media doyenne praised President Obama for demanding an increase of the minimum wage, but doesn’t pay her bloggers anything at all. The Atlantic magazine recently came under fire for asking a freelancer to write something for free. The writer, instead, published the email exchange. The Atlantic’s readers were up in arms against the magazine, but they missed the point. If those readers won’t pay the magazine for the news, how do they expect the magazine to pay the writers?

My friend Darrell Laurent, who is a newspaper columnist in Lynchburg and runs Writers Bridge, a writers consortium, runs "opportunities" for writers in a daily newsletter. Most of the positions are either unpaid or pay absurd sums ($5 a column/post or $10 for each 1,000-word story).

The problem with that is that those offering slave wages find people to do the work. I read some years ago that of all the people in the U.S. who call themselves "professional writers," just two percent actually make a living writing and most of those are journalists.

As writers, we are our own worst enemies, very often. I write for Public Radio for free and have for 20 years or so, justifying that as "doing something I love to help a valuable resource I respect that is a non-profit." When I was with FRONT, I asked writers to contribute book reviews for no pay. Some columns--those written by professionals like CPAs--weren't paid, partly because their associations would not let them accept pay. A lot of writers would verbally shoot me for that attitude and I understand their point. We won't get paid if we work for nothing. People who don't pay, get what they're not paying for.

It is a very difficult dilemma and my guess it's not going to be solved any time soon. So get used to news you can't trust very often.

(Photo: woman.thenext.com)

For Shame: Editing the Gettysburg Address

2013-05-13T11:17:00.003-04:00

Lincoln (in circle) at Gettysburg three hours before his speech.

The piece below (from here) is an example of the editing a new computer program would do to the Gettysburg Address. It is, of course, absurd, overbearing, without initiative or creativity and, well, a whole like an 11th grade English teacher who's attempting to steal a student's voice.

It really boils my bodily fluids, more because of what it says about editors than what it says about writers. This speech has been called--by people who know what they're talking about--"perfect."

Here's what the program did to perfection:

~~Four score and seven~~ [EIGHTY-SEVEN] years ago our ~~fathers~~ANCESTORS is preferable] brought forth on [ONE PART OF] this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty [NO NEED TO CAPITALIZE], and dedicated [WHAT’S YOUR SOURCE FOR THIS?] to the proposition that all ~~men~~ [PEOPLE] are created equal.

~~Now~~ [CAN YOU BE MORE SPECIFIC ABOUT THIS TIME REFERENCE? WHEN EXACTLY IS NOW?] we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are ~~met~~ [ASSEMBLED] on a great battle-field [NO HYPHEN IN WEBSTER’S NEW WORLD FOURTH EDITION] of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, [EXTRANEOUS COMMA] as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives ~~that~~ [IN ORDER] that [SUCH A] nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this
.
But, in ~~a larger~~ [ANOTHER] sense, we can not dedicate* — we can not consecrate* — we can not hallow* — this ground.[*REPETITIVE LANGUAGE] The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have [ALREADY] consecrated it, far above our ~~poor~~ [MORE LIMITED] power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember [THIS IS CONJECTURE] what we say here, but it ~~can~~ [MAY] never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work ~~which~~ [THAT] they who fought here have ~~thus far~~ so nobly advanced. It is[,] rather[,] for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — [A COLON IS PREFERABLE TO A DASH] that from these honored dead [AND WOUNDED] we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation~~, under God,~~ shall have a ~~new birth~~ [CONTINUATION] of freedom — and that government of the people*, by the people*, for the people* [*REPETITIVE LANGUAGE], shall not perish from the earth.

Grade: C-.

General comment: Too short.

Remembering Mom, Almost Daily

2013-05-12T08:05:00.001-04:00

Opal McCourry Smith

It's odd how often Mom comes up these days. She's been gone for about 25 years or so, but I refer to her almost daily in one context or another. Usually, it's misquoting her about something, but even with the bad quote, there's a deeper reference to what she taught me.

She would never, for instance, have said, "Show me a modest man and I'll show you a man with considerable to be modest about," but I attribute it to her because it gives the thought more power. She'd have said something more like, "Show me a modest man and I'll give him a hug."

But, hey, what are mothers for if not for ascribing our most noble and ignoble thoughts to? Every time I'm with my brothers and sisters (and there is a passel of them), I am taken aback by how direct--mom would have said "blunt"--they are. They're honest, funny, insightful and about as perceptive as anybody I know. Just like Mom.

She didn't have the benefit of formal education, but Dad, who did, said she was the smartest woman he knew. "She knows things intuitively that people spend years in school trying to learn," he said. "A lot of them fail to learn it."

Mom has been especially lively the past few weeks as I've gone back to CLOG! to try to finish my first novel. She's in it--all over it, you might say--even though it's not at all about her. I'm on what I hope is my final re-write and I'm increasingly finding spots where Mom's wisdom needs to be shared through one of my characters.

That, I suspect, is her final gift to me, the memory of what she would have said, thought and done. And it's a novel, so I can misquote her all I want.

Photo of the Day: Miss Dimples and Her Magic Smile

2013-05-11T15:09:00.001-04:00

This is my favorite kid, Maddie, showing the whole world that wonderful, open-faced, dimpled smile that is such a winner for her. Shot about an hour ago at City Market Building. What a kid she is!

Photo of the Day II: A Little Love in Lynchburg

2013-05-10T14:47:00.002-04:00

Here's the sculpture my pal Paul Clements (center of the "O") has just finished for the City of Lynchburg. Note the outdoor theme with hiking boot prints in the "L", bike wheels in the "O", canoe paddles in the "V" and rollerskate wheels in the "E".

With Paul are Leah Weiss, his mama, and Bea, his wife.

(Photo: Dan Tobin)