The college is the first of its kind in Virginia, where there has yet to be another standalone public health college. Bob Weiler, associate dean of academic affairs at George Mason, said conversations about creating the college began at the end of 2004.听

鈥淚t has required a lot of time and a lot of effort by a lot of people here at Mason, particularly within the college as well,鈥� Weiler said. 鈥淎nd so, just to see the actual transition to solidify and actually happen is really exciting.鈥�

The college is made up of 1,900 undergraduate and 1,300 graduate students. It offers six undergraduate degrees, eight master鈥檚 degrees, five doctoral degrees and six professional certificate programs. The school is made up of the following:聽

• Nursing
• Global and Community Health聽
• Health Administration and Policy
• Nutrition and Food Studies
• Social Work

Weiler said before George Mason created a designated college, Virginia was one of 13 states without a college of public health. He added it was also one of the largest states to be without such a college.

鈥淭o lead the nation in healthy outcomes, we as a state must establish schools dedicated to education, research and community service in public health,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s a school of public health, we see it as a responsibility to the region and to the state itself.鈥�

Colin Greene, the state鈥檚 , said it was excellent for George Mason officials to bring the college to the state. He said having an understanding of the different facets of health helped him in his career as a doctor. It was also what inspired him to get a master鈥檚 degree in public health, he said.

鈥淚 think the fact George Mason is opening this college is great for the Commonwealth,鈥� Greene said.听

George Mason鈥檚 public heath school may be the first college of its kind in the commonwealth, but there are other public health college initiatives spread across communities in Virginia, Greene鈥檚 office noted. Eastern Virginia Medical School teamed up with Old Dominion University and Norfolk State University last March in an effort to . Virginia Commonwealth University has also been working to make a public health college since last year, officials said.听

Rebecca Sutter, a nursing professor, said George Mason鈥檚 college approaches public health with an interdisciplinary lens.

鈥淭he interdisciplinary nature of the college, and I would say the interprofessional nature, really lends itself to [improving health outcomes],鈥� said Sutter, who had already been a professor at George Mason for 10 years. 鈥淪taying siloed in health and public health is not going to lead to a change that we know we need to have.鈥�

Sutter said the COVID-19 pandemic was proof of the need for people across sectors to work together and for the college to come to George Mason.

鈥淚t really is timely as we’re coming out of a public health emergency and our COVID-19 responses,鈥� she said. 鈥淎s people know now, we just didn’t have the infrastructure and we just didn’t quite get it right.鈥�

Taylor Thomas, a George Mason senior and global and community health major, said an interdisciplinary look at health would only make health infrastructure stronger. To Thomas, public health is not just vaccines or illness. She said it was also food access and other .

鈥淚 don’t think those are the parts of public health that people think of very often,鈥� she said. 鈥淗aving this change to the college of public health, I think, is reflective of what people really should know about public health in the broader community.鈥�

Thomas is set to graduate at the end of this month. But she said she knows that although her time in the college is already ending, the college鈥檚 impact on the community was only beginning.听

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But in 2020, she tackled teaching a new and unexpected group of first responders: Officers from the Herndon Police Department.

鈥淚t was a lot of fun, especially with this group, because they’re just really good people,鈥� said Cho, who has taught meditation for four years. 鈥淭hey feel like family at this point.鈥�

Herndon police is the second department in the country after the New York Police Department to participate in a pilot program that teaches cops how to meditate. Instructors have taught meditation four times in the last two years to Herndon officers. The goal: To better community policing amid nationwide calls to defund law enforcement.

The comfort of calm

Herndon鈥檚 meditation program is funded by the , a nonprofit dedicated to teaching people transcendental meditation.听

Transcendental meditation is a form of silent mantra meditation, according to the foundation. Unlike other forms of meditation, people who practice it do not need to monitor their thoughts or focus on a specific manifestation.听

Bob Roth, chief executive officer of the foundation, said the foundation raises money for a four-day training from community donors in the Washington, D.C. area.

Roth said the training for Herndon police is not different from the training they would give to anyone else. The pilot project indicated that this universal technique could help officers among other first responders, he said.

鈥淲hen a person has been traumatized, they have been traumatized,鈥� Roth said.听

Herndon Chief Maggie DeBoard said she did not expect the training to work at all.

鈥淚 definitely had expectations like, 鈥楾his is not going to do a darn thing for me,鈥欌�� DeBoard said. 鈥淚 mean, I had trouble wrapping my brain around the fact that I’m supposed to sit down for 20 minutes and just repeat a mantra so that this would have an effect on my brain.鈥�

DeBoard said Cho and the other instructors proved her wrong.

鈥淚t doesn’t eliminate stress, but it helps you cope with the stress that you’re dealing with,鈥� DeBoard said. 鈥淚t helps you feel more in control of the problems.鈥�

Roth said many people who take the training have the same realization.听

鈥淎 real warrior is a person who can maintain an inner calm, inner equanimity in the midst of powerful dynamic activity,鈥� Roth said. 鈥淪o, this doesn’t make a person passive. This allows the person to marshal their energy and the resources to respond to any situation at any time.鈥�

DeBoard said she learned meditation at the most challenging moment of her life. She said officers were leaving her department in droves after the 2020 killing of George Floyd and . Herndon is still down six positions in their 50-officer department, she said.

鈥淭hat nearly broke me,鈥� she said. 鈥淢editation was a savior for me because it allowed me to realize that I can manage this.鈥澛�

DeBoard also said she brought meditation to the department because she wanted to better her officers鈥� relationship with the community. DeBoard wants to better her department after community calls for .

鈥淭he crux of reform is, 鈥楧o we have good, healthy cops?鈥欌�� DeBoard said. 鈥淎nd if we have good, healthy cops, then we’re ultimately likely to have much healthier community interactions.鈥�

DeBoard said she doesn鈥檛 mandate officers take the meditation training. But she tells officers, however, that they should develop skills to help them cope with their job.听

鈥淪ometimes, you deal with people on the worst day of their lives, and you’re supposed to deal with it, but you have to be humbled about the fact that it’s going to impact you,鈥� DeBoard said. 鈥淚f it doesn’t impact you, you’re in the wrong job because you have no heart.鈥�

A new department

The Herndon police department looks slightly different since it brought transcendental meditation to its ranks. Officers can meditate at the station鈥檚 nap room or wherever they feel comfortable while working their shifts, DeBoard said.

There are 48 officers in the department, DeBoard said. Lisa Herndon, department spokeswoman, said 14 officers and 13 professional staffers took one of the four training sessions.

Capt. Justin Dyer did the first session back in 2020. He said meditation changed his life.听

鈥淚 wasn’t very open-minded about it,鈥� Dyer said. 鈥淚 thought it was a bunch of Voodoo because I was closed-minded, put it that way. Coming out of it, I had a totally different perspective.”

Dyer said people might have preconceptions about meditation, but he learned a lot about how the practice can help first responders.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not a cold-type thing,鈥� Dyer said. 鈥淚t’s not a belief system. It’s just a way to rework how your brain operates. And it just gets rid of stress.鈥�

Cho, the instructor who taught transcendental meditation to police, said many people often had that realization in training. Cho said police officers would never stop being human, nor should they be expected to do that.

鈥淚t’s not that you stopped having challenges in life,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s not that you stop having emotions. You know, and that’s never the goal. The idea is that when stuff does happen, you’re able to bounce back faster.鈥�

The post Herndon cops want to better their policing. Their strategy: Meditation. first appeared on 最新蜜桃影像.

As of the morning of Nov. 9, Read snagged about 50 percent of the vote with 4,757 ballots, compared with Yi, who earned 49 percent, or 4,639 votes, with eight of nine precincts reporting. The absentee ballots and early voters. 聽

鈥淪o many people made this victory possible!鈥� Read wrote on Twitter Nov. 9. 鈥淭hank you to every person who believed this was possible!鈥�

Officials with the Fairfax City Electoral Board said Wednesday that provisional votes still needed to be counted. The office also would count qualifying mail-in ballots that come in over the next few days, officials said.

Preliminary voting data shows the majority of people voted for Yi in five of the six polling places, while Read got the majority of absentee votes. Neither candidate responded to a request for comment on the results Nov. 9.

The unofficial results of Tuesday鈥檚 election come after Yi, a city council member and a Republican congressional staffer, battled Read, a Democrat and civic engagement strategist, for the mayor鈥檚 seat in a months-long, partisan campaign for a .听

Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) endorsed Yi over the summer. Fairfax City Mayor David Meyer, a Democrat who is not seeking another term, donated to Read鈥檚 campaign, according to data from the Virginia Public Access Project.

Tom Ross, a city council member and Democrat who is running to keep his seat, said outside the polling station Nov. 8 that he was supporting Read.

鈥淚’ve been on council with Sang for two years,鈥� Ross said. 鈥淎nd I respect the fact that he served there, but I don’t agree with his values or with the kind of leadership style he has. So that’s why I endorsed Catherine.鈥�

Katy Johnson, a community member, came to vote at the community center that day with her two children in tow. Johnson was happy to vote, but she said she was frustrated seeing the race become partisan.听

鈥淲e’re supposed to be independent, and I’ve literally lost friends because I think that we should be nonpartisan,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淚 think the local elections are not the national elections and these are our neighbors. We鈥檙e all one Fairfax city.鈥�

Jill Butterfield, another community member, said the partisanship impacted her decision regarding who to circle on her ballot.

鈥淲hen I looked into what Mr. Yi was supporting, it all looked fine in a very generic kind of way,鈥� Butterfield said. 鈥淏ut honestly, when I found out that Glenn Youngkin was campaigning for him or supporting him, it was like 鈥楴o, not happening.鈥� 鈥澛�

This year鈥檚 race was also a costly one. Yi raised more than $169,000 for his mayoral campaign, including about $67,000 from his city council bid, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Read has raised about $90,000, according to the project.

Yi based his campaign on issues related to . Some citizens at the polling place said they voted for Yi because they think he supports development. Others said they voted for him because they wanted to vote for a Republican.

Susan Steiner, a community member who volunteered for Yi鈥檚 campaign, said she voted for Yi because he was an active member of the community.

鈥淗e’s a man of the community,鈥� Steiner said. 鈥淲e see him on our walks with his dogs, his children and his beautiful wife. He is a great neighbor.鈥�

If elected, Yi would have become the Commonwealth of Virginia鈥檚 first Korean American mayor, if elected. Loretta Herrington, another community member volunteering for Yi鈥檚 campaign, said that representation mattered.

鈥淔rankly, this is a community that’s very diverse,鈥� Herrington said. 鈥淗e represents all of us. And by that I mean, it’s time for the next generation to take leadership.鈥�

Yi has not made a public comment on race as of 8:45 a.m. Nov. 9.

Read, who had previously lost a bid for a city council in 2012, based part of her campaign on social issues, and . She also pitched other municipal issues, .

Paul Wyche, a sophomore at George Mason University, said he voted for Read because of her stance on social justice. Wyche said he was able to meet Yi at George Mason before deciding who to vote for.听

鈥淚 am necessarily against Sang, but I voted for Catherine Read,鈥� Wyche said. She was kind of the better choice for me, especially for the whole political climate going on nowadays with abortion rights.鈥�

The Fairfax City electoral board will , which will be finalized by Nov. 15, 2022.

The post Read claims win in tight Fairfax City mayoral race against Yi first appeared on 最新蜜桃影像.

It鈥檚 been 76 years since the Town of Vienna began its Halloween Parade in 1946, a spectacle that takes place every year rain or shine. Even during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the parade carried on through a .

There will be costumes, floats and, of course, goodie bags filled with candy. in light of the event.

A panel of judges will select the most creative floats based on the parade鈥檚 theme, which changes from year to year. For 2022, it is “Time Machine: Vienna in the past, present and future.”

To Peggy James, the executive director of the Vienna Business Association, the parade represents the best parts of Halloween 鈥� costumes, celebration, music. But it also represents the town鈥檚 tight-knit community.

鈥淚 think about 30,000 people go to the parade here,鈥� James said. 鈥淚t’s crazy.鈥�

People line up chairs and blankets days before the parade to stake out their lot on Maple Avenue, James said. You can spot their blankets and chairs piled up against the curb, she said.

The parade is sponsored by the business association and . James, who is charged with putting together a panel of judges and getting local businesses to sponsor the parade, said it was incredible to see all the businesses that want to support the event.

鈥淭he parade is just like 鈥楽mall Town USA,鈥欌�� James said. 鈥淵ou just see so many of your neighbors and so many of your fellow business people.鈥�

James said there were some staples of the parade: The Vienna Art Society, which she said always puts together a creative float. She also noted The Jammars, a local percussion-based music group, the town鈥檚 School of Rock and the Harley Davidson Club, which all usually make appearances every year.

Lily Widman, Vienna鈥檚 recreation program coordinator, said it was fun to see every float鈥檚 different interpretation of the theme.

鈥淭here’s one group this year that’s actually making a time machine for their entry, so that鈥檒l be cool to see,鈥� Widman said.

The parade is special, she said, which is why the town will in Northern Virginia year after year.听

鈥淭his is a really huge undertaking for the town of Vienna,鈥� Widman said. 鈥淎nd it’s amazing that we manage to close down Maple Avenue at rush hour on a Wednesday every year. It’s not easy to do. And like I would say just about every town employee at the town of Vienna has some hand in making it happen.鈥�

Widman said, however, the coordination was worth it 鈥� the parade is her favorite event that the town puts on.听

鈥淚’m the event coordinator for the town,鈥� Widman said. 鈥淚’ve run a lot of large-scale events for the town and they’re all wonderful. But this one 鈥� it just sparks joy in the kids and the families attending more than anything else.鈥�

The parade is woven in the town鈥檚 history. In October 1955, The Fairfax Herald wrote that it was the place 鈥�thousands of kids from six to 60 in the guise of clowns, goblins, witches, spooks, [and] storybook characters.鈥澛�

In October 1959, the Herald wrote that prizes went to the 鈥渟pookiest, funniest, prettiest, and more original costumes.鈥�

Maggie Reidy, secretary of the Vienna Host Lions Club, a volunteer organization, said her club will never miss a parade. News clippings also show that the Lions sponsored the parade in 1955.

鈥淥ur club is 80 years old,鈥� Reidy said. 鈥淪o, we’ve been doing the parade every year that there’s been one. We enjoyed it very much.鈥�

Reidy will have to miss the parade this year, but she already has her costume for 2023 ready to go, she said. A lion suit, for the Lions Club.

Leigh Kitcher, who Widman and the town chose to be the parade鈥檚 grand marshal, also has finally picked out her costume.听

鈥淚 thought 鈥楳y gosh, who am I going to go as?鈥欌�� Kitcher said. 鈥淎nd I only knew that I wanted to wear this beautiful orange hat my friend lent me.鈥�

Kitcher was chosen to lead the parade because of her active role in Vienna, Widman said. She has been involved in leadership positions in Historic Vienna, Inc. the town鈥檚 Ayr Hill Garden Club and the National Capital Area Garden Club. Kitcher also helped Vienna coordinate its first in 2021.

Kitcher knew she wanted to dress professionally but wanted to also celebrate the day.

鈥淚 thought: 鈥極h! I want to be Bella Abzug,鈥欌�� Kitcher said of the . 鈥淲hat could be more appropriate than going as Bella because she was known for her hats. She was known for her outspoken support of women’s rights. And human rights. And she鈥檚 just a dynamic person.鈥澛�

Kitcher鈥檚 excited, she said. She described getting selected to be the marshal as an honor.

Parade organizers said kids who just want to march in the parade should show up at 6 p.m. at United Bank at 374 Maple Ave., which is the parade鈥檚 starting line. Those who have registered to be in the parade and put together floats are to do the same, .

Kitcher, dressed as Abzug, will lead the way at 7 p.m. Wednesday to kick off the fall festivity. She will be the one in the orange hat.

The post Town of Vienna gears up for 76th annual Halloween parade Wednesday first appeared on 最新蜜桃影像.

They power up their cars and hear the engine hiss. The wheel is stiff, and the gas pedal won’t accelerate. Icons across the dash light up like a Christmas tree.

Tonetti can guess the problem: The vehicle鈥檚 catalytic converter has been stolen. And officials say it is a problem that has only been growing in Fairfax County and across the nation.

More than 700 catalytic converters have been stolen in Fairfax County this year, according to data provided by the police department. That is nearly double the 409 converters stolen in all of 2021 鈥� and triple the 213 stolen by the end of September last year, the data shows.

鈥淲e have seen more and more of these calls come in,鈥� Tonetti said. 鈥淚t is extremely frustrating for people.鈥�

Officials and locals like Tonetti are trying to help the community protect their vehicles amid the surge of thefts. Whether it be increasing penalties for the crime or setting up a tracking system for stolen converters, they hope new efforts to stop catalytic converter thefts will help keep potential incidents at bay.

Why catalytic converters?

Catalytic converters were developed during the 1970s by the to tamp down on pollution and smog-forming emissions from cars, with support from the . By 1975, they were required on all new vehicles in the U.S.

鈥淭he converter has precious metals that help to break down the vehicle鈥檚 toxic gas so that it doesn’t go into our ozone,鈥� Tonetti said. He said each converter is different, but can have multiple metals such as copper, aluminum, steel or platinum.

Those metals are valuable.

鈥淭hat’s worth a decent amount of money,鈥� Tonetti said. 鈥淪o yeah, people will sell it to someone who has the tools to melt it down and separate the metals.鈥� Tonetti noted that Toyota Priuses, to crime.

Virginia Del. Robert Bell, R-Albemarle, said catalytic converter thefts have historically been like other thefts of items less than $1,000, which are a misdemeanor in the Commonwealth.

But while a converter may be worth less than $1000, repairing damaged vehicles can .

Bell 聽to take those costs into account. He said making the crime a felony was a logical response.

鈥淢y opponents, though, did not like having too many felonies in Virginia,鈥� Bell said. 鈥淭heir opposition was not a surprise. But we were able to get it through.鈥�

The bill passed 57 to 38 in the Virginia House of Representatives. It passed unanimously in the state senate.

The new law signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, in April makes . If convicted, a person can face up to five years in prison.

Bell said it would take time to see whether the new law was effective.

鈥淭he guy on the street stealing a catalytic converter is not reading the code amendments,鈥� Bell said. 鈥淲e are hopeful that the few people who are committing these crimes will over time be deterred or get caught and go to prison.鈥�

A nationwide trend

Fairfax County is not the only place experiencing an influx of catalytic converter thefts, said Chris Herrmann, professor.

鈥淭hese are increasing crimes everywhere,鈥� Hermann said. 鈥淚 think you can kind of blame that a little bit on the economy and blame it a little bit on the fact that it has easy access.鈥�

Herrmann said it does not take much to steal a catalytic converter, noting that perpetrators can access converters by sliding underneath people’s cars.

Barriers to shield catalytic converters are expensive, Herrmann said.

鈥淭he only way to really prevent it is to weld a cage over your catalytic converter,鈥� Herrmann said. It鈥檚 an expensive process, so a lot of people probably wouldn’t do that.鈥�

Tonetti and workers at Craftsman Auto Care are etching people鈥檚 converters to make their cars a less easy target, they said.

Asha Boone, marketing manager at the auto shop, said the shop bought scanners that can be placed on the converter and聽.

Workers call it 鈥淓tch and Catch,鈥� she said. The auto shop has hosted eight events this year where people can drive up to Craftsman Auto Care, and shop workers will glue the scanner on the converter for free.

People can notify the International Security Register code check website if the part gets stolen. If someone tries to sell the piece for scrap, a and can notify the website they found the part.

The Fairfax County Police Department partnered with the shop to promote their etching campaign, Boone said.

Watch here: Etching a catalytic converter

鈥淲e鈥檙e fortunate to have outstanding community partners who have volunteered to provide VIN etching,鈥� Lt. James Curry wrote in a statement. 鈥淲e hope this not only deters criminals from stealing catalytic converters but also aids detectives in tracking down the rightful owners if the property is found.鈥�

Boone said their shop has yet to have been notified that an etched converter has been stolen, she said. It鈥檚 a hopeful sign, she noted, that etching these thefts will soon be on the decline.

The post Catalytic converter thefts are on the rise. Here鈥檚 how to keep your car safe. first appeared on 最新蜜桃影像.

The 6:30 p.m. virtual event is part of a range of efforts initiated by the school system to improve multi-lingual services. As the county becomes increasingly diverse, the schools have a larger goal: To make its wraparound services more inclusive for non-English speaking parents in its community.

Tuesday鈥檚 workshop will dive into why young people are susceptible to joining gang violence and what they can do to help prevent it. A gang prevention coordinator with Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court will also speak to parents.

Kate Reen, director of youth initiatives at the Northern Virginia Family Service, said the webinar is an opportunity for parents and educators to be on the same page regarding gang-related issues that impact students.

鈥淪chools are hugely influential in a young person’s life,鈥� Reen said. 鈥淲e want to work in a coordinated fashion with their life at school and their life at home.鈥�

Reen said her nonprofit hosted the same workshop in English in March. But she thought it was essential to ensure these workshops are language accessible.

鈥淚 think it can be challenging if you’re not sure who at the school speaks Spanish or who doesn’t 鈥� or to know what interpretation resources are available in our school,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd so, a lot of it is looking out for our Spanish-speaking parents. We want them to have the same information that our English-speaking parents have received.鈥�

Fairfax County schools officials announced they will host in partnership with other local nonprofits, with topics ranging from social screening services for students to stress management resources.

Renee LaHuffman-Jackson, coordinator of Fairfax County family and school partnerships, said her office chooses the language of each webinar depending on the topic and resources available.

鈥淲e may have an offering of one thing that may be in English, but then we have some offerings that are in Spanish, or only Korean or in Arabic,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t just depends on the topic.鈥�

LaHuffman-Jackson could not pinpoint how many people went to past workshops because attendance ebbs and flows, she said. Parents can also attend the workshops after they occur by watching them on YouTube, she said.

However, she said more people had used the school system鈥檚 general parent resources since COVID-19 broke out over two years ago.

LaHuffman-Jackson said the school system had these workshops for years, long before she joined the staff seven years ago.

LaHuffman-Jackson also mentioned the school鈥檚 phone line. The office also manages a phone line where parents can call and speak to :

• Amharic
• Arabic
• Chinese
• Farsi
• Korean
• Spanish
• Urdu
• Vietnamese

鈥淓ver since COVID, it’s been booming,鈥� she said.

Many students come home to non-English speaking households, . According to the county website, nearly 40 percent of residents speak a language other than English at home.

Donna Sabino, a science teacher at Oakton High School, said she saw firsthand the diverse languages students spoke outside the classroom.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not a monolithic sort of 鈥楨veryone speaks the other language, which is Spanish,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淚t’s not at all. I have Arabic speakers. I have students that speak Turkish at home. I have students that speak Farsi at home.鈥�

Sabino said she used Google Translate sometimes when she would email students鈥� parents. Sometimes, she would be able to coordinate a translator to attend a parent-teacher conference.

鈥淭he kid has the advantage that they can acclimate fast because they have school, but I think the parents are really at a disadvantage,鈥� she said.

Sabino tries to build an environment where non-English parents can be involved in a student’s education, just as engaged as English-speaking parents. But resources such as the workshops and the phone line are essential to making it happen.

鈥淲hat I mean, but if the school or I engage the parents, I usually find that it’s helpful,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 mean, we’re all looking for the same thing: we want our students to do well. And they want to be a part of their kids鈥� learning.鈥�

Parents can register for the Tuesday night workshop on the , where they can find more information about resources in different languages.

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