Penelope Kyle

Radford University President Penelope Kyle is expected today to sign the American College and University President's Climate Commitment.

It is expected to happen during a ceremony at 9 a.m. in the Hurlburt Student Center, a university news release said.

The signing is part of a celebration of the national Campus Sustainability Day.

The commitment pledges the university to work to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions, and build research and educational programs designed to help restabilize the Earth's climate.

VT professor speaks about proposed hearing-protection law

Virginia Tech professor John Casali testified Oct. 7 at the Environmental Protection Agency hearing in Washington, D.C., on a proposed federal law regulating product noise labeling for hearing-protection devices.

The devices are used by industrial workers.

Casali, a former president of the National Hearing Conservation Association, testified that substantial changes to the law were needed to better reflect the actual amount of hearing protection received by industrial workers and other users, according to a news release from the university.

Casali's testimony was based in part on research conducted since 1990 in Tech's auditory systems laboratory. The lab is largely funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Read the rule and Casali's testimony at epa.gov by searching for docket number OAR-2003-0024.

Professor to testify before federal transportation panel

Virginia Tech Transportation Institute Director Tom Dingus is scheduled to testify today before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in Washington, D.C., on the problem of distracted drivers, according to a news release.

The hearing is part of a summit focused on finding solutions to the problem of traffic fatalities caused by driver distraction, according to a news release from the university.

Dingus' research has been sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Federal Highway Administration, National Institutes of Health, the Virginia Department of Transportation and several major automobile manufacturers, the release said.

Seminar discusses violence prevention

About 40 people attended a workshop Thursday in Virginia Tech's Smyth Hall on strategies for reducing the risk of violence on campus, event coordinator Amy Splitt said.

Titled "Stronger Than We Think: Self-Empowering Skills That Reduce the Risk of Violence," the workshop was part of a two-day visit to Tech by Fairleigh Dickinson University criminal justice professor James Kenny.

Kenny, an expert in risk assessment and violence prevention, discussed how to identify the early warning signs of violence and proactive approaches to dealing with potential offenders.

The visit was sponsored by Virginia Tech's Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention and the Students for Non-Violence club and had broad campus support from groups such as the Dean of Students Office, student government groups and the Women's Center, Splitt said.

The event was part of the center's mission to "build student-centered solutions not only for healing, but for creating a caring and empowered campus community," she said.

The Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention was established following the April 16, 2007, campus shootings and is housed in Norris Hall, where much of the killing took place.

Dairy cattle team wins world expo

The Virginia Tech Dairy Cattle Judging Team finished first in a field of 19 teams at the 89th Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest at the World Dairy Expo on Sept. 28 in Madison, Wis. The team also placed first at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Mass., on Sept. 19, according to a news release from the university

Team members included Paula Craun, a sophomore agricultural and applied economics major from Bridgewater; Derek Heizer, a junior dairy science major from Middlebrook; Hannah Smith, a senior dairy science major from Clear Spring, Md.; and Parker Welch, a junior dairy science major from Chestertown, Md.

The coaches were Tech dairy science professors Michael Barnes and Katharine Knowlton. This is the third national contest win in the past four years for Tech, according to a news release.

University planning black alumni reunion

The Virginia Tech Alumni Association and the Office for Equity and Inclusion will host its Black Alumni Reunion at Virginia Tech on March 18-21.

Events are expected to focus on career development and networking, according to a university news release. A banquet will be held to honor Tech's influential black alumni, the release said.

The last Black Alumni Reunion was held in 2007.

Visit www.alumni.vt.edu/blackalumnireunion or call 231-6285 for information and to register.