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New Dominion, Old Tricks: A Review of Virginia\u27s 2024 General Assembly Session
Get PDFThe 2024 General Assembly session followed a transformative election cycle. Democrats regained full control of the General Assembly after two years of split legislative power, thwarting Governor Glenn Youngkin’s efforts to secure a Republican trifecta. Redistricting drove unprecedented turnover, with more than one-third of lawmakers joining their respective chambers as newcomers in 2024. The remade General Assembly was the youngest in recent memory and the most diverse in Virginia history. These changes brought uncertainty and promises of cooperation, but the session soon descended into familiar partisan polarization. Governor Youngkin vetoed a record number of bills, while Democrats voted down many of Youngkin’s priorities. Still, in moments of bipartisanship, the Governor and the General Assembly came together to address pressing challenges facing the Commonwealth. This article surveys some of the session’s legislative successes related to firearm restrictions, higher education admissions, casino development, mental health services, overdose intervention, marriage rights, prison oversight, and payment to student athletes.
The other articles in this issue cover the following topics in depth: the data center industry, criminal record clearance, the right to contraception, vicarious liability of employers, economic development initiatives, and charity care policy
A 20-Year Ecotone Study of Pacific Northwest Mountain Forest Vulnerability to Changing Snow Conditions
No full text(1) Background: Global climate change is expected to significantly alter growing conditions along mountain gradients. Landscape ecological patterns are likely to shift significantly as species attempt to adapt to these changes. We evaluated the extent to which spatial (elevation and canopy cover) and temporal (decadal trend and El Niño–Southern Oscillation/Pacific Decadal Oscillation) factors impact seasonal snowmelt and forest community dynamics in the Western Hemlock–True Fir ecotone region of the Oregon Western Cascades, USA. (2) Methods: Tsuga heterophylla and Abies amabilis seedling locations were mapped three times over 20 years (2002–2022) on five sample transects strategically placed to cross the ecotone. Additionally, daily ground temperature readings were collected over 10 years for the five transects using 123 data loggers to estimate below-canopy snow metrics. (3) Results: Based on validation using time-lapse cameras, the data loggers proved highly reliable for estimating snow cover. The method reported fewer days of snow cover as compared to meteorological station-based snow products for the region, emphasizing the importance of direct under-canopy field observations of snow. Snow season variability was most significantly impacted temporally by cyclical ENSO/PDO climate patterns and spatially by differences in canopy cover within the ecotone. The associated seedling analysis identified clear sorting of species by elevation within the ecotone but reflected a lack of a long-term trend, as species dominance in the seedling strata did not significantly shift along the elevation gradient over the 20-year study. (4) Conclusions: The data logger-based approach provided estimates of snow cover at ecologically significant locations and fine enough spatial resolutions to allow for the study of forest regeneration dynamics. The results highlight the importance of long-term, understory snow measurements and the influence of climatic oscillations in understanding the vulnerability of mountain areas to the changing climate
Building reflection into community-based learning classes
Get PDFReflection is the critical element of community-based learning (CBL) courses at the University of Richmond. Faculty who teach CBL courses design reflection assignments that weave academic content with community experiences, helping students discover their own assumptions and deepen their understanding.
This workbook is meant to be a practical introduction to designing reflection assignments through the modes of community-based learning utilized in University of Richmond courses. The Bonner Center for Civic Engagement offers a robust Course Support Grant program to assist faculty with the many needs arising in CBL classes and a requirement of the grant is to describe the reflection activity in the class. We offer this introduction to CBL reflection to assist your design of reflection assignments, but no part of it is required. Use what makes sense within your own course design. We are also happy to meet and brainstorm if that would be helpful, before the beginning of the class or after the class is over, with student reflection responses to feed an assessment of how well it worked. Reflection assignments can evolve with repeated iterations of the class. This guide can give you a place to start, and we look forward to accompanying you in your community-based learning experiences
Creativity Boosts Learning And Prepares Children For Life Beyond School
No full textCreativity can spur student learning and motivation and prepare children for life beyond school. Crayola Creativity Week offers rich resources for educators and parents