The football and the book learnin’

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham [email protected] The presumed number-one quarterback, Peter Lalich, is busted for underage possession of alcohol. Then one of the incoming starters on the offensive line, Will Barker, is among two UVa. players picked up for stealing beer from a nightclub on The Corner. And that was just last week’s news….

Live, on C-SPAN, it’s Stuarts Draft High School

AFP

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] Hurry up and wait. That’s life on TV. Students in two AP government classes at Stuarts Draft High School know that all too well. “It was exciting. National television, that was pretty cool. But it was nervewracking at the same time,” said Akash Patel, a senior at SDHS, a few…

Success on the field, court linked to admissions applications

AFP

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] Listen to “The SportsDominion Show” to hear Virginia Tech professor Jaren Pope discuss the tie between college-sports success and admissions. Show Length: 8:35. You hear college and university administrators say it often. We want to win on the field, but it’s more important that we win in the classroom. And…

The economy

Chris Graham

General Assembly Report column by Del. Ben Cline As the second week of the 2008 General Assembly session began, we saw ominous signs from Wall Street about the direction of the national economy. In response, the pesident and Congress have announced plans for a bipartisan economic-stimulus package that includes tax credits for distressed sectors of…

Obscenity v. The First Amendment: Why the prosecution of X-rated films affects books

Chris Graham

Story by Matthew Warner What’s so horrible about porn other than the poor quality of most of it? And why should you care? ‘LITERARY OBSCENITY’ Watch out, you writers and purveyors of erotic horror and explicit romance. The folks here in my Bible Belt city of Staunton, Virginia, care quite a bit. Last summer, when…

Caged fury: Inside the rough and ready world of MMA

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] Amid a backdrop of men of various sizes and numbers of tattoos alternatively kicking and punching the air and occasionally a trainer wielding oversized protective gloves, the almost preternatural calm of Tyler Moyer stood out to me. At least what I was reading was calm. I soon found out that…

Breaking ground on the Silicon Shenandoah

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] It took a year to get from the first public announcement to the groundbreaking. The question now is, how long does it take to go from groundbreaking at the new SRI International Center for Advanced Drug Research in Rockingham County to the point where we start referring to the Valley…