AROUND CAMPUS

Lab, German shepherd added to Tech force

Virginia Tech's police department has two new members: Boomer, a 2-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, and Boris, a 2-year-old German shepherd.

Both came to Tech from Germany by way of an Ohio police dog trainer and supplier. Boomer and his handler, officer Larry Wooddell, graduated from the Virginia State Police K-9 training school this summer. Boomer is Tech's first explosives-detection K-9.

Boris is the new apprehension and narcotic-detection K-9, replacing 11-year-old Hokie, who has retired after eight years of service at Tech. Boris' handler is officer Keith Weaver, who has adopted Hokie.

W&M professor to teach in Netherlands

Katherine K. Preston, a music professor at the College of William and Mary, has been named the Walt Whitman Distinguished Chair of American Culture by the Fulbright Center of the Netherlands.

Preston will spend the spring semester at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. While there, she will teach a course for undergraduates on American popular music and a course for graduate students on music in American film.

The Fulbright distinguished chairs program offers only 40 positions worldwide.

Virginia representatives in inaugural parade

The Virginia Military Institute Corps of Cadets and the Hampton University Marching Force have been selected to march in the Presidential Inaugural Parade on Jan. 20.

Also winning the coveted honor is T.C. Williams High School's Army JROTC in Alexandria.

For VMI, the parade will mark the 100th anniversary of the first time it marched in an inaugural parade and the 13th inauguration in which cadets have taken part.

Hampton's Force has 225 members, with 10 instrumental sections and a dance group, Ebony Fire. Among songs it plans to perform is President-elect Barack Obama's campaign song, "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" by Stevie Wonder.

U.Va. sells surplus property online

The University of Virginia has switched from live auctions to selling much of its surplus property online.

The property can be found at http://www.govdeals.com. (Use the advanced search feature to find U.Va.'s property.)

The online auction pushes up sale prices while costing the university less. U.Va. pays a 7.5 percent fee for selling an item online; the cost of a live auction was 12 percent to 18 percent of the purchase price.

U.Va. also will dispose of some surplus property through Charles W. Hurt LLC, a private contractor that resells bulky furniture and building materials as well as some appliances. The university gets a portion of the sales price.

For more details, visit http://www.procurement.virginia.edu /Surplus.
Karin Kapsidelis reports on higher education. Contact her at (804) 649-6119 or .