UR law students win competition

UR law students win national competition

University of Richmond School of Law students won the national finals of the American Bar Association's Student Trial Advocacy Competition. They defeated teams from 69 other law schools at the event last month in Chicago.

Students were judged on their advocacy skills and courtroom presence at each stage of the trial. Teams consisted of four students each, two serving as lawyers and two acting as witnesses. The Richmond law team won seven preliminary trials to advance to the finals, judged by U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer.

The UR team included second-year student Hank Gates of Richmond and third-year students Scott Jones of Stafford, Kristen Wright of Atlanta and Jeannine Panzera of Rockville, Md. Paul Thompson, adjunct professor of law, coached the team.

VCU funding aims to increase organ donors

The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine has received a $3 million National Institutes of Health grant to test a way to increase the number of families who agree to organ donations.

Laura Siminoff will lead the five-year grant to test a two-part intervention approach with a goal of increasing consent rates from families of deceased patients. Currently, consent is obtained from only about 60 percent of the families of donation-eligible individuals.

Siminoff is professor and chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the associate director of the Cancer Prevention and Control research program at the VCU Massey Cancer Center.

Virginia Tech research expenditures hit record

For the 10th year, research expenditures at Virginia Tech have reached a record high. The university reported $373.3 million in expenditures for fiscal year 2008, which ended June 30, to the National Science Foundation.

The figure represents an increase of $6.3 million, according to Ken Miller, university controller.

Elsewhere on campus

Rodney A. Smolla, dean of Washington and Lee University School of Law, has been elected to the board of governors of the Virginia Bar Association. . . . VCU School of Pharmacy Dean Victor A. Yanchick delivered the keynote address Tuesday to about 300 pharmacy faculty and administrators at the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy interim meeting in Arlington. . . . Altria Group Inc. has awarded Virginia State University a two-year, $325,000 grant to help fund programs within VSU's School of Engineering, Science and Technology. The grant will assist SEST in recruiting and retaining students, especially in manufacturing engineering.

Karin Kapsidelis reports on higher education. Contact her at (804) 649-6119 or .