To coincide with the start of the new academic year, Virginia Tech dedicated a new April 16 memorial on Sunday, Aug. 19. The memorial, which includes 32 permanent Hokie Stones etched with the names of those who lost their lives, is in front of the Drillfield viewing stand, the same location as the original temporary memorial that was created in the hours and days following the shootings.

"Today, we join together as a community to honor, commemorate, and pay tribute to the talented minds of those innocent individuals who were taken from us far too soon," noted Vice President of Student Affairs Zenobia Hikes. "These cherished members of the Virginia Tech family--the young, gifted minds searching for knowledge and the dedicated, talented professors imparting that knowledge--will never be forgotten. With our native limestone as the base, we have etched their names into the foundation of this great university. The dedication of this memorial marks our determination to treasure the beautiful lives they lived."

During the ceremony, the 32 Hokie Stones used in the temporary memorial were offered to the families of the victims. After President Charles Steger concluded the ceremony by dedicating the memorial, a bell was rung 32 times.

To watch a video of the dedication ceremony, view a slideshow of the ceremony, or read transcripts of all the speakers' remarks, go to www.vt.edu/remember/memorial_dedication/.

Pretty cool . . . however, we think that the Hokies are ANYTHING BUT trivial.

VTTI awarded $3 million to plan driving study

The National Academy of Sciences' Strategic Highway Research Program 2 has awarded the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) $3 million for the Design of the In-Vehicle Driving Behavior and Crash Risk Study, the first stage of a multiphase project that will ultimately become the largest naturalistic driving study ever conducted. The VTTI research team was chosen for this project largely due to its experience with the 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study, completed in 2006 and widely recognized for its advanced technology and comprehensive database. Other key members of the research team include the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute and the Batelle Memorial Institute.

For this first phase, researchers will develop a research plan and technologies to be used in the full-scale data collection and analysis effort and will also conduct a small pilot study. Similar to the 100-Car Study, this pilot study will collect naturalistic (real-world) driving data from drivers in their own vehicles. VTTI's Data Acquisition System (DAS), first used for large-scale naturalistic research in the 100-Car Study, will be examined as part of this planning phase. Researchers hope to improve the system and to equip a small fleet of vehicles with advanced DAS's featuring traffic-signal-state assessment, lateral proximity sensors, real-time eye tracking, and ambient temperature sensors.

After completion of this phase, the institute will submit a proposal to conduct the data collection and reduction effort and then to complete a variety of analysis projects. Currently, the full-scale project is projected to be completed in 2011. The final study will look at a minimum of 2,500 cars nationwide, with the possibility of up to 10,000 vehicles instrumented in different stages.

Pioneering study proves increase in equine obesity

America's growing obesity problem isn't confined to humans. A team of researchers in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech has determined that horses are also facing serious health risks because of obesity. A pioneering study found that 70 percent of the horses evaluated were determined to be overweight or obese.

Previously, only one other study had looked at obesity in horses. A 1998 owner-reported survey of horse-owners conducted by the USDA's National Animal Health Monitoring System suggested about 5 percent of horses were overweight. Based upon the horses routinely seen through clinical practice in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, however, the researchers "thought it was at a level of at least 15 percent," says Craig Thatcher, a professor in the veterinary college's Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences. The team was alarmed to find that the numbers were more than double what they'd expected: 51 percent of the horses in the study were found to be overweight and 19 percent were found to be obese. "This study documented that this is an extremely important problem in horses that has been under-reported," says Thatcher, who, along with his colleagues, believes the study results suggest that horse-owners should change some of the ways in which they care for their horses. Also hinted at was that horses could emerge as an important model for studying the health implications of human obesity. Just as with people, it appears that the culprits for equine obesity are overeating and lack of exercise. For more on the study, go to www.vtnews.vt.edu/story.php?relyear=2007&itemno=390.

Nominate a scholar

Every week for 10 years, the Office of the Vice President for Research at Virginia Tech has recognized the research and scholarship of an individual faculty member. This recognition has also been an effective way to acquaint others with the research and scholarly activities going on at the university. In the program's early years, scholars were nominated by department heads and distinguished professors. Since the feature began to appear on the Web, however, nominations have been submitted by other faculty members and from students and alumni. "It is gratifying to hear about faculty members who shared their enthusiasm for research or scholarly discovery and creativity with students and earned the students' respect by so doing," says Robert Walters, vice president for research. "We appreciate the alumni nominations and perspectives on the research." Alumni interested in nominating a Scholar of the Week should go to www.research.vt.edu/rotw/AboutROTW.htm.