No one seems to have followed our advice. Although we warned that the temptation is to read too much into elections rather than too little, national experts of all inclinations have discerned transcendental meaning in Virginia’s 2009 results. Although the outcome represented a major triumph for Bob McDonnell and the GOP, low-turnout elections tend not to be watersheds. Although the turnout—the worst in a gubernatorial election since the rise of two-party politics in Virginia—may have serious implications for future races, it seems unlikely to indicate partisan or ideological realignment.

Hasan’s name appears on radical Internet postings. A fellow officer says he fought his deployment to Iraq and argued with soldiers who supported U.S. wars. He required counseling as a medical student because of problems with patients.

The family of Morgan D. Harrington is seeking volunteers to redouble the efforts to locate the Virginia Tech student who disappeared Oct. 17 after leaving John Paul Jones Arena at the University of Virginia. Harrington’s parents were in Charlottesville yesterday with the father of returned abductee Elizabeth Smart to announce a new ground search tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday.

Last night Virginia Tech’s Hokies played North Carolina’s Tar Heels. Thursday kickoffs at Tech and other schools tick off various professors and perhaps even a few young scholars. Academics often come to a halt early on game days. Although Tech does not formally cancel afternoon or evening classes for Thursday night football games, yesterday’s Washington Post reported that professors say they feel implicit pressure to shut their classrooms. Fans covet parking spaces, you see; students do not mind free passes to attend tailgate parties, we suspect.

The last reported sighting of Morgan D. Harrington was on a bridge over railroad tracks near the John Paul Jones Arena. Virginia State Police released a new timeline to draw more tips from the public.

A Virginia Tech graduate was one of four Americans killed Monday in the collision of two helicopters in Afghanistan. U.S. Marine Capt. David Seth Mitchell, 30, was the fourth member of Tech’s Corps of Cadets Class of 2001 to die since graduation and the eighth former Tech student killed while in military service since 2003. Mitchell, of Loveland, Ohio, was among 14 Americans killed in separate helicopter crashes Monday, the deadliest day for the U.S. in Afghanistan in more than four years.

8:20-8:30 p.m. Harrington tries to re-enter arena near main entrance.
  8:30-8:48 A woman fitting her description is seen outside the arena at various locations.
  8:48 Harrington talks to friends by cell phone.
  9-9:10 A woman fitting her description is seen walking through University Hall parking lot toward Lannigan Field.

CHARLOTTESVILLE—Police are hoping a timeline of when and where a Virginia Tech student was last seen will help jog the memory of someone who can provide a key clue to her whereabouts. Authorities believe Morgan Dana Harrington, 20, was last seen at 9:30 p.m. Oct. 17 on a bridge in Charlottesville, Virginia State Police Lt. Joe Rader said today.

The parents of a Virginia Tech student who disappeared outside a Metallica concert in Charlottesville said yesterday on national television that they fear she is the victim of foul play. Morgan Dana Harrington’s parents said on NBC’s “Today” show that they are devoting all their energy to finding their daughter, who was last seen Oct. 17 outside the University of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena.

Metallica has added $50,000 to the reward for information in the search for missing Virginia Tech student Morgan D. Harrington, raising the amount to about $150,000, her father said. Troopers from the Virginia State Police passed out fliers Saturday in the area of John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville. Harrington, 20, attended a Metallica concert there Oct. 17, the night she disappeared.

Six Virginia schools made the National Science Foundation’s rankings of the top 200 research universities in the nation. Virginia Tech ranked 46th in the 2008 list based on research and development expenditures. Tech reported expenditures of about $373.28 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008. Virginia Commonwealth University was ranked 108th. It reported $148.65 million in expenditures, an 11 percent increase.

The father of a missing Virginia Tech student said yesterday that he thinks she has been abducted, and announced that the reward for information leading to her return will be at least $100,000. “I think Morgan was taken. I don’t think she ran away,“ Dan Harrington said. Staff at Carilion Clinic, where Harrington is vice president for academic affairs, raised the money, which will be administered by Crime Stoppers, he said.

CHARLOTTESVILLE—Police are treating the investigation into a missing Virginia Tech student as a criminal matter, though they say there’s still no evidence a crime has been committed. Officials say they have Morgan Dana Harrington’s purse and her cell phone but they have no idea where she is, though they’ve received more than 100 tips.

Virginia State Police and University of Virginia authorities are creating a timeline tracking a Virginia Tech student who was reported missing after attending Saturday’s Metallica concert at U.Va.‘s John Paul Jones Arena. Authorities spent yesterday following up potential leads. They are asking concert-goers to review pictures or videos of the concert to look for anyone resembling 20-year-old Morgan Dana Harrington.

Reserve seat tickets for the Virginia Tech-Virginia football game on Nov. 28 in Charlottesville have been sold out. Student guest tickets (general admission) are still available for sale to U.Va. students with a valid student ID or student online account at uvashots.com.