Press Releases in All, 2012

First-year students flock to sleep study

It’s all about the science:  Hundreds of first-year students have signed up to keep diaries of their sleep habits, provide blood samples and cheek-cell specimens, and participate in the big November spit-in.
Happy to help sleep researcher Mary Carskadon learn more about the health and biological effects of sleep in college, hundreds of first-year students have enrolled in her semester-long study, volunteering to keep careful records. (Distributed September 11, 2012)
Commentary: Selim Suner

After 11 years, WTC responders get coverage

Dr. Selim Suner, a professor of emergency medicine, surgery and engineering, was a 9/11 first responder and has since studied the health of other responders. When the federal government recently announced that treatment of several cancers would now qualify for benefits under the World Trade Center Health Program, Suner said he was not surprised. Many suspected a possible link between cancer and the airborne particulates of World Trade Center debris long before yesterday's formal acknowledgement. (Distributed September 11, 2012)
Commentary: Catherine Lutz

September 11 and the Cost of War

The Costs of War project is assessing the total cost of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan in the wake of the 9-11 attacks. Findings thus far put the cost at more than 300,000 lives and $4 trillion. The project’s findings are continually updated. Catherine Lutz co-directs the Eisenhower Research Project, which produced the Costs of War report. (Distributed September 10, 2012)
2012 Opening Convocation

President Paxson opens 249th academic year

Rain site:  President Paxson delivered the 2012 Opening Convocation Address in the Pizzitola Sports Center, away from rain and lightning. The ceremonial walk through the Van Wickle Gates would have to wait for better weather in the morning.
Due to the threat of heavy rain and lightning, Brown University’s 249th Opening Convocation met in the Pizzitola Sports Center at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012. Christina Paxson, Brown’s 19th president, formally opened her inaugural academic year and delivered the Opening Convocation Address titled “Constructive Irreverence.” The text of President Paxson’s convocation address follows here. A video of the speech is also available online. (Distributed September 5, 2012)
Media Advisory

Brown moves Opening Convocation indoors

Rain plan:  Members of the Class of 2016 will take their ceremonial walk through the Van Wickle Gates on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012. Opening Convocation has been moved indoors because of the threat of heavy rain and possible lightning.
Because of a likelihood of heavy rain and the possibility of lightning, Brown University will hold its 249th Opening Convocation indoors at the Pizzitola Sports Center at 4 p.m. today. The ceremonial walk through the Van Wickle Gates for entering students will take place tomorrow, Thursday, Sept. 6. The gates will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. President Christina Paxson will walk through the gates with entering students at noon tomorrow. (See also Opening Convocation news release) (Distributed September 5, 2012)
Commentary: Mary Caskadon

For better student health, start school later

A perfect storm of sleep:  By the time they enter high school, students are caught between a biological tendency toward staying up later and school districts that start earlier. The solution? Start the school day later.
Back-to-school time for many U.S. high school students may mean heading back into a Catch-22 of sleep. Teens are naturally inclined to stay up late, but are forced to wake up early, says Mary Carskadon, professor of psychiatry and human behavior and a noted advocate of later school starting times. (Distributed September 5, 2012)

Medicare kidney spending at crucial moment

Medicare’s struggle to contain costs:  Dialysis and drugs to control anemia became one of Medicare’s biggest costs after 1972, when the program 
expanded to care for anyone in the country who needed treatment, 
regardless of age.
Medicare has covered treatment for anyone with end-stage renal disease since 1972. The coverage is very expensive and the program has struggled for 40 years to contain costs without compromising quality. In a new paper that chronicles that history, the authors argue that Medicare’s latest attempt – bundled payments and pay-for-performance – could become a broader model for the program if it succeeds. (Distributed September 4, 2012)
Questions for Sherri Nelson

Off to college: How to say goodbye

It’s not a permanent goodbye:  It helps to remember that the goodbye process has been taking place awhile; parents and students have been anticipating the final parting for quite some time.
Dropping a child at college can be a difficult and exciting experience for parent and child undergrad alike, as it marks a new chapter in everyone’s lives. Sherri Nelson, associate director of psychological services at Brown University, offered some advice for parents and new students on how to say goodbye in a positive way and help ease the transition for what may be their biggest goodbye to date. (Distributed August 31, 2012)

Lyme retreatment guidance may be flawed

Deer ticks, Lyme disease, and medical guidance:  Accepted medical practice discourages antibiotic retreatment in cases where Lyme disease symptoms persist. A new review of studies behind current medical advice says those studies prove nothing.
A new statistical review calls into question studies that have been taken as proof that antibiotic retreatment for chronic Lyme disease is futile. That misunderstanding has led to medical guidance that discourages retreatment and insurance coverage for it. Instead, the authors of the review suggest, the proper reading of the studies and their data is that they prove nothing. (Distributed August 30, 2012)
Questions for...

Rose McDermott: The political genome

A recent review of research co-authored by Rose McDermott highlights the role that genes play in political preferences, an area of study that began to draw significant attention in the last decade. McDermott speaks with Courtney Coelho about this growing field of research, its evolutionary roots, and whether it means anything for the prediction of future election results. (Distributed August 29, 2012)
Commentary: James Head

Remembering Neil Armstrong, 1930–2012

Neil Armstrong, aerospace engineer, U.S. Navy pilot, test pilot, university professor, and the first person to set foot on the Moon, died Saturday, Aug. 25, at the age of 82. James Head, professor of geological sciences, met Armstrong and the other Apollo astronauts early in the program and has this remembrance. (Distributed August 27, 2012)
Media Advisory

Brown community movie on Tuesday 

Brown's community movie night on the grass at Granoff Center Amphitheater:
Brown University will hold the last in a series of outdoor movies on Tuesday August 28, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. at the Granoff Center Amphitheater. The movie is free and open to the public. (Distributed August 24, 2012)
Op-Ed

Senate vote a baby step in larger battle against a divided society

Louis Putterman:  "The current ideological battle is partly over whether the system as a 
whole is fair, i.e. gives opportunities to those who work hard."
Louis Putterman has taught economics at Brown since 1980.  During his tenure here, he has widely published about a variety of economic issues. His expert blog for PsychologyToday.com shares its title with that of his new book, The Good, The Bad, and The Economy: Does Human Nature Rule Out a Better World?  This essay first appeared in The Providence Journal. (Distributed August 23, 2012)
Questions for...

Richard Arenberg: Defending the filibuster

Richard Arenberg:
In Defending the Filibuster: The Soul of the Senate, political scientists and former Senate staffers Richard Arenberg and Robert Dove argue that the solution to recent criticism of the filibuster is not to do away with it. Arenberg speaks with Courtney Coelho about the history of Senate debate, how its use has been distorted in recent years and why reforms, not abolishment, are key to preserving Senate minority rights.  (Distributed August 23, 2012)
249th Opening Convocation

Paxson to address Brown's incoming class

The 249th and counting:  The banner will change, but on Wednesday the Class of 2016 will take its turn for a ceremonial march through the same Van Wickle Gates. President Christina Paxson will address incoming students at 4 p.m.
Christina H. Paxson, Brown’s 19th president, will deliver the Opening Convocation address to the undergraduate, graduate, and medical students who are beginning their studies at Brown. The ceremony begins at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012, on the College Green. The president’s address and the proceedings can be viewed live on the University’s website. (Distributed August 21, 2012)