University of Virginia football fans can be forgiven for wondering if they saw double during yesterday’s halftime show at Scott Stadium. U.Va.‘s Cavalier Marching Band has added a pair of top-ranked twin twirlers to its roster. Brittany Maiden and Victoria Maiden, 18, of Hanover County have been twirling batons since they were 5 and have consistently placed among the best in national competitions.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan will kick off an initiative to stress the need for more great teachers during a stop at the University of Virginia.

First, the calm. As Chase Minnifield heads to the field to return a punt for the University of Virginia football team, everything is practiced and orderly. He’s a superstitious guy, so the entire routine is the same as it was the previous time. Then, the storm. He watches the ball come off the punter’s foot, trying to read the spin and anticipate where it will land. At the same time, he’s bracing himself for 10 tacklers who want to end their 40-yard dash by violently colliding with him.

Media General News Service As of yesterday, patients, employees and visitors no longer are allowed to smoke on the property of the University of Virginia Medical Center. As part of the hospital’s effort to transition to a smoke-free environment, people no longer may smoke in front of the hospital’s entrance, outside the primary-care center, at the medical center’s outpatient clinics, in the parking garages and at the Elson Student Health Center.

Virginia receives $1.39 in state tax revenue for every dollar it invests in public higher education, says a study by a business coalition that is campaigning for increased support for colleges and universities. The Virginia Business Higher Education Council will present the report today at a summit on economic competitiveness and higher education. The summit, at the Greater Richmond Convention Center, will include remarks by both gubernatorial candidates and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.

George Washington wrote down this rule to guide his behavior: “Undertake not to Teach your equal in the art himself Proffesses; it Savours of arrogancy.“ “Nate from UVA” wrote this one: “If you can clearly understand someone’s post or chat online, don’t critique their grammar or spelling just because you have nothing of substance to say. Typos happen.“

Deborah Eisenberg had a student conference in the morning and a writing class in the afternoon. It was just a normal day for the University of Virginia professor “with a hiatus of abnormality” in the middle, she said. Yesterday, Eisenberg, a short-story writer teaching two courses this semester, was named one of 24 winners of a 2009 MacArthur Foundation “genius grant.“ She said she plans to take her creative-writing students to dinner to celebrate.

Research buildings at medical schools have high levels of security in Virginia, but that doesn’t help if a dangerous person has clearance to enter them, say university and law-enforcement officials. The murder of a graduate medical student at Yale University has put a spotlight on security at research laboratories at other medical schools, including VCU Medical Center and the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

ROTC units from James Madison University and Virginia Military Institute will begin a 61-mile march today with the game ball for Saturday’s football game. The JMU Duke Battalion and VMI’s Marshall-New Market Battalion will march the ball from Lexington to Harrisonburg as a tribute to the sacrifice of those serving in the armed forces.

Virginia’s offense hasn’t had a lot of success through two games, but it does now have a leader. Senior Jameel Sewell, a Hermitage graduate, will step up and lead the team as the ‘Hoos prepare for a game Saturday at Southern Miss. “The reality is, right now it looks like he’s going to be the quarterback,“ coach Al Groh said last night.

The Virginia Department of Corrections has stopped a Charlottesville-based program that donated 2,500 to 3,000 free books a month to inmates. “Quest Bookshop is no longer [an] approved vendor . . . allowed to send books directly to inmates,“ said prison spokesman Larry Traylor. The department is encouraging that the books be donated to prison libraries, he said.

Albemarle County officials hope some new blood will help with their frozen positions. The county has taken on 13 University of Virginia interns for 10 hours each week to help make up for a staffing shortage created by freezing 55 full-time positions after the economy tanked. Officials say the interns’ hours are equivalent to those of three full-time workers.

Getting their kicks: One team enters this game with a proven solution at kicker and punter. It’s not the guys in orange. Robert Randolph needs to prove he can hit long field goals, and a similar spotlight will shine on punter Jimmy Howell.
  Alone on an island: The new spread offense will keep the offensive linemen apart from each other, increasing accountability at the position. There can’t be any weak links, or it will be a long day for whomever lines up behind center.

When: 6 p.m.  Radio: WRVA (1140), WINA (1070), 5 Tickets: $23 all seats Records: Season opener
  Players to watch: W&M — QB R.J. Archer, second career start; RB Jonathan Grimes, preseason All-CAA; DE Adrian Tracy, preseason All-American. U.Va — QB Vic Hall, second career start; OLB Aaron Clark, returning from knee injury; TB Torrey Mack, first college game.

CHARLOTTESVILLE—More University of Virginia School of Law students and graduates are trying to spend a year or two working for a judge rather than starting out in a firm. An increased interest in clerkships spurred the creation of an independent Office of Judicial Clerkships at the law school. Students and alumni now have a place to learn more about clerkships and get help with their clerkship applications.