Students speak up for Larry
I can tell from reading her article, “Wild about Larry,” that it is obvious that Barbara Rich has never been a student of Larry Sabato’s [Opinionated, January 31]. While she can only glimpse his so-called “self-satisfied smirk” and “pomposity” from his appearance on TV, thousands of students of Mr. Sabato’s would argue otherwise. I have rarely seen a faculty member more dedicated to his students. He will respond to his students’ e-mails within 10 minutes.
Although Ms. Rich argues that the media comes first with Mr. Sabato, I’ve known him to always prioritize his students over any other aspect of his job. He is fiercely loyal to his students—he publicly defended the character of football player Brad Butler, a student of his, when everyone in the country, including the talking heads at ESPN, were cutting him down for a play in a football game.
And he opens his home on the Lawn to his students, advising and mentoring them much more than Ms. Rich would expect. Why doesn’t she know this? Because his students are what truly matters to him, but he’s humble about that part. I think that’s a far cry from “pompous” or “cocky.” And I know dozens of my fellow students would agree with me.
Ross Baird
University of Virginia ‘07
Dating game
Talking head Larry Sabato must have bumped his reminiscing to Barbara Rich when he said he “was just a UVA student,” as a volunteer for the late Henry Howell’s first run for governor in 1969. Alas, the ubiquitous political pundit did not graduate from Norfolk Catholic High School until 1970, entering the University as a first-year student, as did I, in the fall semester of 1970.
Patrick Pierce
Barboursville
No nukes is good nukes
The “more environmentally friendly nuclear reactor” [“Dominion’s proposal meets some anti-nuke demand,” The Week, January 31] that Dominion is planning for Lake Anna will continue to generate highly radioactive wastes that will accumulate in water storage pools and in increasing numbers of dry casks on the shores of Central Virginia’s “premier” recreational lake. The new reactor will also contribute to an overall increase in routine emissions of tritium and other ionizing radiation, the harmful effects of which, even at very low levels, cannot be disputed.
Striped bass may survive since they are restocked yearly, but construction and operation of a new nuke will increase adverse impacts to Central Virginia’s water supply both in the lake and in downstream communities. Our water resources need to be safeguarded. Taxpayer dollars should not be squandered on a technology that is not economically viable and cannot ever be referred to as sustainable or “environmentally friendly.”
Elena Day
Charlottesville
Correction:
Due to an editing error, last week we misspelled the surname of a contributor. Priya Mahadevan wrote “Townhouses coming to Fontaine.”