Wednesday, March 19, 2014

THE

BROWN DAILY HERALD vol. cxlix, no. 39

since 1891

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

Task force Retirement offers emeritus faculty freedom, uncertainty Benefits for emeritus focuses on professors called unclear, sexual assault lackluster compared to peer institutions policies

By WING SZE HO

Students voice hope that revisions to code of conduct include changes to sexual assault policies

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

By SANDRA YAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

A group of students has formed a Sexual Assault Policy Task Force to gather information in preparation for the University’s Code of Student Conduct policy review next semester.

The task force aims to provide support to survivors and promote awareness about sexual assault on campus, said Kevin Carty ’15, a member of the group and former Herald opinions columnist.

Harpo Jaeger ’14 and Lena Barsky ’14 came up with the idea for the group last summer when they realized they both had friends who had been sexually assaulted on campus and who had negative experiences while going through the hearing process, Barsky said.

“We thought for a process that was supposed to be helping victims reclaim their lives and get some sort of justice, why aren’t we hearing anything good about this?” she said. “When we came back to school, we just wanted to get more information and find out what was going on.”

When the code of conduct last came up for review in 2009, the University made several changes, including switching oversight of hearings » See TASK FORCE, page 2

EMILY GILBERT / HERALD FILE PHOTO

Professor Emeritus of History Gordon Wood P’86 has stayed at Brown, but he finds some fault with the University’s treatment of emeritus faculty.

Professor Emeritus of History Gordon Wood P’86 found it strange one day after he had retired that his mailbox was empty when all the other boxes on the wall in his department’s building held a copy of the Brown Alumni Magazine.

When he started teaching at Brown in 1969, the provost of Wood’s alma mater, Tufts University, warned him that “Brown is not very good at treating its retired faculty,” Wood said. But he “was not thinking about retirement back then.”

Wood said he was due to retire from Brown and teach at Northwestern Law School in 2003. But before his retirement, Brown’s administration offered him a

contract for five years during which he would teach for only one semester per year. After communicating with administrators, Wood decided to stay at the University and teach undergraduates under the gradual retirement plan.

But policies such as the one that left his mailbox empty of the Brown Alumni Magazine are “penny wise and foolish,” he said.

An emeritus faculty member is a faculty member who retired at the rank of professor or has served at the University for at least 15 years, said Senior Associate Provost Elizabeth Doherty P’16.

To formally bestow an emeritus title, a department must make a recommendation to the Corporation, said Dean of the Faculty Kevin McLaughlin P’12, adding that the recommendations are rarely rejected.

Doherty estimated the University has several hundred emeritus faculty members. But “the population is hard » See EMERITUS, page 3

PETA president discusses animal pain and suffering Ingrid Newkirk explores roots of abuse, hardships animals suffer with call for greater empathy

By RILEY DAVIS SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Pictures of adorable animals filled Barus and Holley 166 Tuesday during a lecture delivered by Ingrid Newkirk, co-founder and president of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Newkirk spoke to an audience of nearly 50 during a lecture hosted by the Brown

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

Vegetarian Society.

Newkirk began her lecture by quoting comedian George Carlin’s definition of animal rights activists.

“An animal rights activist — they’re the kind of people that when cockroaches invade their home, they develop a spray that doesn’t kill the cockroach, it just confuses them so they go next door to think things over,” she said to a laughing audience.

To give some context to the animal rights movement, Newkirk drew parallels between the way humans treat animals now and the way humans treated other humans in the past.

Tragedies like the Trail of Tears, the Holocaust and tuberculosis testing on orphans arose because people “who

those things were inflicted upon were considered ‘others,’” Newkirk said.

“They were considered different.”

Part of the problem, Newkirk said, is that humans don’t equate things done to animals with those done to fellow human beings. “If you’re against discrimination, gratuitous violence, against prejudice, then you have to be for animal rights,” Newkirk said.

She focused not exclusively on what PETA does as an organization, but rather on how people should view animals and enact their ideologies.

She spoke of animals’ intelligence, telling stories of how chimpanzees can beat college students at shortterm memory computer games and

how crows have their own complex language system that uses their wings and beaks.

She also emphasized animals’ empathy, and their ability to feel the same emotions humans feel, including love, pain, loss, fear and shock.

“All living beings love their babies,” Newkirk said, while flashing pictures of baby animals with their mothers on the screens behind her. “We need to be in awe of animals.”

In order to effectively communicate the type of treatment she was inveighing against, Newkirk also showed the audience pictures and videos of animals undergoing different procedures. After warning » See PETA, page 2

M. BASKETBALL

Loss to Crusaders knocks Bruno out of tournament in first round

By ALEX WAINGER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

EMILY GILBERT / HERALD

inside

Sean McGonagill ’14 takes a shot during Monday night’s men’s basketball game, which resulted in a loss to the College of the Holy Cross.

In the program’s first-ever postseason home game, the men’s basketball team was eliminated from the CollegeInsider. com Invitational Tournament with a 6865 loss to the College of the Holy Cross Monday night.

After trailing by as many as 19 points in the early going, Bruno surged in the second half but could not overtake the Crusaders, who will advance to the second round of the tournament.

“I’m happy with how we fought back in the second half,” said co-captain Sean McGonagill ’14. “But the deficit we

created in the first half really hurt us. We got a few stops in the second half (that) led to buckets. If we hang in there in the first half and get a few more stops, that definitely would have helped us.”

The Bears (15-14, 7-7 Ivy) got off to a rocky start, turning the ball over 11 times in the first half. The Crusaders (20-13, 12-6 Patriot) played a relentless full-court press that flustered Bruno, causing some of the younger players to falter early.

“You saw some youthful mistakes in the first half,” said Head Coach Mike Martin ’04. “The 11 turnovers that half led to a lot of easy baskets for them.”

Holy Cross took complete control of the tempo in the first half — the entire team raced up the floor at every opportunity, often catching the Bears out of position. Anthony Thompson and Justin Burrell, the two speedy starting guards for the Crusaders, created matchup problems for Bruno, which led to open treys

Commentary

Science & Research Discovery of new protein group may help with the development of ovarian cancer treatments

Partial blood cells may be enough to tell entire white cell composition in blood samples

Asher ’15: Steven A. Cohen should not serve on the Corporation

Johnson ’14: Students would be better off if lab reports were eliminated

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Underclassmen dominate roster in first postseason home game, but Bears fall short in comeback effort

and layups. Holy Cross shot nearly 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc in the opening half.

On the other end of the floor, Bruno failed to take advantage of some mismatches of its own. In the opening minutes, the 5-foot-9 Burrell was guarding 6-foot-6 Steven Spieth ’17. Spieth looked to post up on Burrell a few times, but whenever he managed to get the ball down low, the entire Crusader defense would collapse into the paint, forcing Spieth to pass it back out.

Heading into halftime, Bruno found itself down by 11, and its hopes of playing another game this season seemed tenuous at best. But in the second half of play, the Bears came roaring back.

“Our energy went down and theirs went up,” said Holy Cross Head Coach Milan Brown. “I think, because it was such a big lead, that they went into » See BASKETBALL, page 2 t o d ay

tomorrow

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2 university news »BASKETBALL, from page 1 survival mode.”

The Bears actually showed some signs of life as the first half wound down, going on a 7-0 run in the last two minutes to close the first stanza. They continued their success in the second half, pulling within five points of the Crusaders with eight minutes elapsed. Over this 10-minute stretch, the Bears outscored Holy Cross 20-7.

Just a minute into the second half, Cedric Kuakumensah ’16 swatted a Crusader layup attempt. The block was his third of the game, giving him 93 on the season — a new Ivy League record. But the record mark represents just a fraction of what the sophomore forward brings to the team, Martin said.

Kuakumensah is “wise beyond his years,” Martin said. “You can count on him for leadership, effort and all those things that are so important when you’re trying to build a program and trying to change a culture. He’s obviously got some physical gifts, but the fact that he’s so reliable is such an underrated attribute of a player.”

Despite the Bears’ surge, the Crusaders managed to carry their lead into the closing minutes of the game. Leland King ’17 drilled a jumper to cut the lead to four points with just two minutes remaining.

Dave Dudzinski responded for Holy Cross with a layup in the paint. The Crusaders’ star had a quiet 10 points and eight rebounds on the evening, but he carved up Bruno’s defense in the paint, shooting 50 percent from inside the arc.

His hop-step-to-jump-hook move mystified Brown’s forwards.

McGonagill missed a triple that would have made it a three-point game with a little over a minute left. The senior struggled throughout the game, shooting 4-18 from the field. Fatigue could have played a part in McGonagill’s struggles.

With Norman Hobbie ’17 in a walking boot on the sideline, Martin essentially played his starters the entire game, occasionally subbing in Matty Madigan ’17 and Dockery Walker ’15.

Two free throws from Thompson extended the Crusaders’ lead to six with 30

seconds left. Tavon Blackmon ’17 raced up the court and appeared to knockdown a three, but the play was whistled dead, as Martin had called a timeout.

Despite having his trey disallowed, Blackmon played his best game of the season. The first-year point guard finished with a career-high 15 points and four assists. He fearlessly drove into the teeth of the Crusader defense and converted on both scoop shots and layups time and time again.

With the game seemingly out of reach, King clanged a trey off the back iron that somehow found the bottom of the net, pulling the Bears to within three, 68-65. On the ensuing inbounds play, Burrell lost the ball out of bounds, giving Bruno a chance to tie the game with four seconds on the clock.

The Bears did not have a timeout, so the squad ran a play without the help of Martin. McGonagill raced around a Kuakumensah screen, an event that is often followed by a three-pointer for the sharpshooter. But with all eyes on McGonagill, the ball went to King, who appeared to have an open three. As he rose up, Holy Cross’ Alexander Malachi got a finger on the ball, causing King’s shot to fall short. The Crusaders tossed the ball to the other end of the court as the clock struck zero on Bruno’s season.

“Our guys executed fairly well for not having a timeout,” Martin said. “It was kind of a counter to a play we run on the end line a lot. Leland came off (the screen), and we’re confident that if he gets a good look it’s going to go down.

Their kid did a good job challenging the shot. They’ve got good length and good athleticism on that roster.”

While the Bears were disappointed with the loss, the team has a lot to look forward to in the future, Martin said.

Of the seven players who played against Holy Cross, four were first-years and one was a sophomore. King complemented his classmate Blackmon with 18 points of his own to lead Bruno.

“I’m excited about the young guys we have, and about the young guys we have coming in next year,” Martin said.

“I’m excited about where we’re at, and I’m excited about where we’re headed.”

» TASK FORCE, from page 1 from a single individual to a panel of students, administrators and deans.

Those changes “were really positive, and so we figured we could even make … better and more effective changes this time,” Barsky said.

As part of the code of conduct review, the University will form a committee next semester that will be in charge of making official recommendations for policy changes to the administration, said Emma Hall ’16, another member of the task force.

The task force plans on meeting with the policy committee once it is formed and has been in discussions with Bita Shooshani, coordinator of sexual assault prevention and advocacy.

Several members of the task force are interested in applying to be student voices on the committee, Barsky said.

In the meantime, the task force is essentially “trying to provide a lot of education and information and research about this, so when the time comes, we can be making recommendations,” Barsky said. The group wants as many voices as possible to be heard, she added.

Carty is working on reaching out to a variety of student groups and collecting anonymous victim testimonies, which could potentially be used as a resource for the review committee, he said.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

Some members are conducting research on Title IX, the federal guidelines designed to preserve gender equity in higher education, while others are meeting with the Department of Public Safety to see what DPS’ role in reporting assaults is, Barsky said.

Hall highlighted visibility as another goal for the group. “Honestly, every single person on this campus holds a stake in this issue because every single person on this campus is affected by it to some degree,” she said.

The group has reached out to administrators, including President Christina Paxson, who “specifically expressed this is an issue that’s important to her,” Hall said.

The group hopes “to make the process more illuminated for people,” she added.

One change the group hopes to see is improved training for individuals serving on hearing panels for sexual assault allegations, Barsky said. She cited a specific incident where a victim expressed that members of the panel essentially “slut-shamed” the victim and blamed the victim for the alleged perpetrator’s actions.

The group also seeks to make changes in the time frame for consequences for perpetrators. If the hearing and appeals processes are concluded toward the end of a semester, and the perpetrator is sentenced to a suspension for one semester, it is possible for the person to serve that

suspension in the same semester — for an abbreviated period of time — and return the following semester, Hall said.

“Our culture in general is more supportive of protecting perpetrators than it is of protecting victims,” Shooshani said. “A lot of systems are not victim-centered.”

Shooshani sees her goal, as well as the task force’s goal, as listening to what victims want and what would be most important to them, she said.

“This time around, it’s about victim safety and making sure that victims on this campus still feel safe, whether or not they choose to report, and that they will have resources available,” Barsky said.

Though the group hopes to get a few of its members on the review committee, which will be decided in a few weeks, its leaders acknowledged that the process is ongoing and will continue beyond next semester.

“With any issue like this that’s so multifaceted, … you’re always going to be fighting,” Carty said.

“It’s so much more than a number, and it’s so personal,” said Hall. “If we could do our part to make these policies reflective of how much this issue affects individuals’ lives, then I’d say we’ve accomplished something.”

Ultimately, the group wants to make sure that “rape culture is not being codified into our student code of conduct,” Barsky said.

»PETA, from page 1 audience members of the videos’ graphic nature, she showed clips of baby calves being separated from their mothers to be slaughtered for veal, rams getting beaten during shearing and Angora rabbits screaming during live plucking of their fur, among others.

Positive steps have been made in the effort to protect animal rights, Newkirk said. She listed examples of accomplishments that happened just in the last year, including the European Union banning Canadian seal pelt imports and Norway banning circuses with animal acts.

“Hopefully (this lecture) inspires people to look at the world and change how they think about things,” said Adam Horowitz ’16, president of BVS and campus representative for PETA. Horowitz said he has been in contact with PETA all year about having someone lecture at Brown, and that he jumped at the opportunity to have Newkirk speak.

“I’m pretty sure BVS won’t get someone as high-profile as Newkirk for a while,” he added.

Audience members said they found Newkirk an effective and engaging speaker, and some said they enjoyed her focus on the hardships animals endure rather than on the organization itself.

“I think that point was very salient, that we should be focusing on pain and suffering,” said former BVS member Jason Kirschner ’13. “I think that was perfectly appropriate for what (the event) was advertised for.”

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

This Week in Higher Ed

BY TONYA RILEY, UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

NCAA faces second lawsuit this year

A lawsuit was filed Monday in a New Jersey federal court against the National Collegiate Athletic Association on behalf of college football and men’s basketball players, ESPN reported Monday. The lawsuit alleges that the NCAA has violated antitrust laws for capping scholarship funding.

“Anybody watching the NCAA Tournament this week knows it’s a huge commercial business,” said Jeffrey Kessler, the lawyer leading the suit, USA Today reported. “The (College Football Playoff) is a huge commercial business. No one would say people who provide the essential services should not receive compensation — other than in big-time college sports.”

The plaintiffs include one current NCAA-eligible football player, two former NCAA basketball players and one graduated NCAA football player, USA Today reported. The plaintiffs’ legal team is asking for personal damages for the players.

The suit follows a similar claim filed earlier this month by a former West Virginia University running back against the NCAA for capping athletic scholarship values below tuition costs and market values, thereby violating antitrust laws, Sports Illustrated reported.

In another action against athletic program administrators, Northwestern University quarterback Kain Colter launched a union movement in February asking the National Labor Relations Board to recognize his teammates as Northwestern employees, ESPN reported.

Advocating for the new suit’s plaintiffs, the National College Players Association and the College Athletes Players Association have denounced the NCAA’s treatment of players.

“America is a capitalist nation with laws to protect the free market. ... The NCAA’s cap on players’ compensation is both un-American and illegal,” Ramogi Huma, NCPA and CAPA president, told ESPN.

Student death at Drexel linked to meningitis outbreak

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed this week that the death of a student at Drexel University was caused by a strain of meningitis — known as meningitis B — that hit Princeton a year ago, multiple news outlets reported.

The student died March 10 at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center after being found unresponsive, Planet Princeton reported.

Though a mass vaccination occurred at Princeton this winter following the March 2013 outbreak, the CDC warns the strain may still exist on campus, the Star-Ledger reported.

“While it is not possible to definitively conclude how the Drexel student contracted meningococcal disease, the case indicates that the outbreak strain may still be present,” Princeton spokesman Martin Mbugua wrote in an email to the Star-Ledger.

Princeton provided meningitis B vaccinations last month to more than 4,400 campus community members, the Star-Ledger reported.

Drexel is not yet offering the vaccination.

The initial outbreak at Princeton affected fewer than 10 students, the Star-Ledger reported.

“Students at both universities should be especially vigilant to the signs and symptoms of meningococcal disease and seek urgent treatment if suspected,” the CDC report stated.

One-third of the 500 cases of meningitis reported annually in the United States are caused by meningitis B, NBC News reported. One in 10 cases leads to death.

Ricin scare hits Georgetown

Students were evacuated Tuesday from a Georgetown University dorm after a white substance reported to be the toxic substance ricin was found, multiple news outlets reported.

“There were police officers in the hallway of the floor, … and at around 11 a.m., we were told we couldn’t come back to our rooms on one side of the hallway,” student Emily Min told the Hoya. Students were moved into temporary housing at a nearby hotel for the evening, she added.

District of Columbia Metropolitan Police and federal authorities are currently interviewing a suspect believed to be linked to the incident.

D.C. Police said Georgetown officials notified the D.C. Fire Department after the substance was discovered, CBS DC reported.

A field test showed no indication of biological agents, but the white substance is undergoing further FBI testing, FBI spokesperson Jacqueline Maguire told CBS DC. In addition to temporary housing, students are being offered reimbursement for transportation costs from the hotel to the university and relocation-related expenses, the Hoya reported.

university news 3 » EMERITUS, from page 1 to track because their connections to the University vary a lot,” he added.

Post-retirement life Since his retirement in 1994, Professor Emeritus of Engineering Maurice Glicksman has spent his time volunteering for various organizations around the country, writing an autobiography and organizing his collection of over 20,000 stamps, which will be donated to Brown’s libraries when he is unable to oversee it anymore.

Glicksman also chaired the committee that organized and celebrated the 150th anniversary of the School of Engineering in 1997, he said. The committee raised more than $7 million, much of which went toward renovating labs and buildings including Barus and Holley.

All these activities contribute to what he called a fruitful retirement.

Wood said he published many books during his first years as an professor emeritus, describing the period as “very productive.”

“It’s nice if you stay around,” he said.

“Those who stayed in Providence or Rhode Island are very active.”

But retired faculty members who moved to other parts of the country “disappeared,” Wood added.

Emeritus faculty members are entitled to privileges including library access, a University identification card, a parking space and free membership to the Faculty Club and athletic facilities, Doherty said.

Emeritus faculty members are also often included in departmental mailing lists and can serve on the Committee on Faculty Retirement, Doherty added.

Though emeritus faculty members are welcome to attend faculty meetings, they cannot vote.

Wood said he feels fortunate to be able to keep his office, where he works and stores his extensive collection of books. But he added that he was not informed about emeritus benefits such as complimentary gym membership.

Doherty said all the privileges are listed on the University human resources website.

But Adjunct Professor Emeritus of Engineering Barrett Hazeltine GP’15 said he “wasn’t at all clear about the benefits.”

He added that the former provost explained the benefits to him verbally when he retired, but “it was a lot of information at a time.”

A teaching rarity Hazeltine began teaching at the University in 1959 and retired 38 years later.

After his retirement, he continued to teach two undergraduate courses per semester, including the wildly popular ENGN 0090: “Management of Industrial and Nonprofit Organizations.”

Hazeltine said he thought retirement would bring him “more freedom to try different things.” But “out of all the options, staying at Brown seemed to be the most attractive.”

“Teaching at Brown is a lot more fun than a lot of other things I can think about,” Hazeltine said. “Suddenly not having anything to do is not good for you psychologically and therefore physically.”

Both McLaughlin and Doherty said it is uncommon for retired faculty to teach.

“It used to be a practice that is discouraged … because it may be an obstacle to hiring a new, younger faculty (member) in the same area,” McLaughlin said.

“Now departments can take advantage of a retired professor who may have

EMILY GILBERT / HERALD FILE PHOTO

During President Christina Paxson’s inauguration, Adjunct Professor Emeritus of Engineering Barrett Hazeltine GP’15 joined the procession. an expertise that they no longer have,” he added. Retired faculty members often “offer courses that may not be offered otherwise.”

Departments also often seek out emeritus faculty members first to temporarily replace other faculty members on leave, Allen said.

‘Graying of the academy’ Last year, Provost Mark Schlissel P’15 asked the Faculty Executive Committee to investigate why some faculty members are reluctant to retire, said James Allen, professor emeritus of Egyptology and ancient Western Asian studies and FEC member.

Under President Ronald Reagan, the federal government passed a statute eliminating the mandatory retirement age of 70 in higher education, Doherty said.

“The graying of the academy” is a national problem, she added, referring to the fact that the faculty in many departments tends to remain unchanged over long periods of time.

“In order to remain vibrant, a university has to have a continuous infusion of new talent,” Allen said. There has to be “new space for younger professors — otherwise the university becomes stagnant.”

The ad hoc Committee on Employee Benefits, which formed in response to Schlissel’s request, found that financial and psychological concerns often deter faculty members from pursuing retirement, Allen said.

For some faculty members who have been at the University for decades, the school is like a family to them, he said.

“It is not easy to opt out of the family.”

In response to the benefits report, the FEC proposed to clarify the privileges granted to emeritus faculty members, which was discussed at a recent faculty meeting, The Herald reported at the time.

Barren benefits “Health expenses as one gets older and not supported in a university program can totally bankrupt faculty who were once very highly paid,” wrote Harold Roth P’17, professor of religious studies and director of the Contemplative Studies Initiative, in an email to The

Herald.

Roth, who chaired the Committee on Employee Benefits, wrote that prior to the 2012 release of the committee’s report, “faculty who retired were basically shut out of active participation in this community.”

The University does not currently offter post-retirement health benefits.

They are “very expensive undertakings because it cannot be just for faculty,” Doherty said.

Two Medicare supplement plans are available so retired staff members can purchase group plans through the University, but the University does not offer subsidies for them, Doherty added.

Though the University’s retirement health benefits are not as competitive as those of peer institutions, the retirement rate is comparable to universities that offer post-retirement health care, Doherty said. This indicates that health benefits do not necessarily incentivize faculty members to retire, she added.

The Committee on Faculty Equity and Diversity suggested the University set up a post-retirement medical fund for employees, Allen said.

The Corporation rejected the proposal, but the committee will make the suggestion again once the University is not operating on a deficit, Allen added, emphasizing that even peers with comparable or smaller endowments — such as Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins University — have better retirement benefits such as health care accounts.

Hazeltine said the system is “adequate, although other Ivy schools do offer health benefits.”

Health benefits are not the only area in which the University may lack focus for retired employees.

The committee’s report suggested that the University build a center for the emeritus faculty, much like Yale’s Koerner Center.

“If we could, we would,” Doherty said of a potential emeritus faculty center, but the University has different priorities.

“There is a room in the Faculty Club for emeritus faculty established four years ago, although it doesn’t have offices,” she added.

4 science & research

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

Researchers peg protein group as potential cancer culprit TAF2 proteins may become vital piece of ovarian cancer treatment puzzle

By SARAH PERELMAN SCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITOR

University researchers have melded their own experiments with a survey of scientific literature to conceive an unexpected hypothesis — a group of proteins previously overlooked in disease research may play a critical role in the growth of ovarian cancer tumors.

The team found that cells churn out templates for one of the proteins — TAF2 — at a higher level in 73 percent of the serious ovarian carcinomas they analyzed from a cancer database.

They also noted that the production of another TAF protein increased in 66 percent of the cases they examined.

TAF proteins are “a new type of molecule that may have a very specific effect in these ovarian cancer cells,” said Alex Brodsky, assistant professor of medical science, who was not involved in the study. “In ovarian cancer there needs to be fresh ideas” like this one, he added.

The study was published online in the journal Frontiers in Oncology earlier this month.

Such a novel approach will pave the way for future research on the specifics of the pathways involving these TAF proteins, as well as research on how they can be inhibited, said study co-author Richard Freiman, associate professor of medical science.

Tackling the ‘silent killer’ Nearly 22,000 American women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer annually, and more than 14,000 women

die from it each year, according to the American Cancer Society’s website.

Despite the large number of patients, there has been little advancement in developing a cure over the last 40 years, Freiman said.

“One of the major issues with ovarian cancer is that there isn’t a ton of research being done about it, and it is a really challenging disease,” said Jennifer Ribeiro GS, who led the study.

The disease is so hard to address because “in terms of genetics, there’s a lot of different sorts of causes of ovarian cancer,” Freiman said. And surgeries and drugs doctors currently prescribe for treatment tend to work only in a small subset of patients, he added.

The disease’s “very subtle” initial symptoms are another factor making it hard for doctors to catch ovarian cancer before it progresses to dangerous levels, Freiman said, noting that some people refer to the disease as “a silent killer.”

“We believe that we need a really novel approach for looking at the disease,” Ribeiro said, adding that analysis of the TAF proteins may provide such a strategy and is worth future examination.

The TAF system is likely not the culprit in all cases of ovarian cancer.

But understanding many different mechanisms implicated in the disease could allow scientists to eventually create a battery of treatments encompassing a large proportion of cases, Freiman said, adding that he hopes his work contributes to this goal.

The group of proteins is key for fertility in female mice, Freiman said, adding that previous experiments have shown mice cannot make viable eggs without it.

The “crossover between a lot of developmental pathways and cancer pathways” led the group of researchers to switch gears and begin looking at the protein’s implications in ovarian cancer, Ribeiro said.

The link between development and cancer is logical — in early stages of development, cells should multiply at a high rate to sustain growth. But if this rapid growth system goes haywire later in life, it can lead to the multiplication of cells, which causes tumors to form.

High levels of a certain TAF protein are associated with the proliferation of ovarian cells necessary to support egg growth, Ribeiro sad.

But “expression of a certain TAF goes down as stem cells differentiate.”

This developmental pathway supports the potential role of TAF in ovarian tumor growth because “dedifferentiated tumors are more aggressive or more advanced” than differentiated ones, Ribeiro said.

Another insight that led the researchers to link these proteins with ovarian cancer is that estrogen — a hormone involved in egg maturation in the ovary — causes an increase in the expression of one of the TAF proteins.

Previous studies suggest that women who undergo estrogen therapy have an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer, Ribeiro said.

An unexpected start Ribeiro and Freiman each began looking at TAF proteins in graduate school to investigate the reproductive system of mice.

The next steps The study’s authors plan to begin researching how TAF proteins can be inhibited by testing different factors on well-established lines of cells

COURTESY OF JENNIFER RIBEIRO

Jennifer Ribeiro GS first focused on mice’s reproductive systems, but switched to human ovarian cancer when she discovered cancer crossover. derived from ovarian tumors, Ribeiro said, adding that he and his colleagues have identified some small molecules that may work as inhibitors.

“These are not the kind of proteins that you would have expected to be important,” Brodsky said. To test their importance, the researchers will need to examine their role in cancer cells

from multiple types of tumors, he added.

The link the researchers made to human mutation data “provides evidence that there is really something going on,” but more research is needed to establish a strong connection between the TAF proteins and ovarian cancer, he added.

today 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

menu SHARPE REFECTORY

med life VERNEY-WOOLLEY

LUNCH Spinach Pie Calzone, Polynesian Chicken Wings, Vegan Tofu Veggie Ravioli with Sauce, Zeppole

Chicken Fajitas, Vegan Black Bean Tacos, Vegan Three Bean Casserole, Sauteed Spinach with Garlic, Zeppole

DINNER Tortellini Angelica, Tequila Lime Chicken, Crispy Thai Tofu with Fresh Lime, Zuppa Inglese

Chopped Sirloin Patty with Onion Sauce, Eggplant Parmesan, Cheddar Mashed Potatoes, Zuppa Inglese

JOSIAH’S

THREE BURNERS

QUESADILLA OR GRILLED CHEESE

Gnocchi Bar

Grilled Cheese

BLUE ROOM

SOUPS

DINNER ENTREES

Chicken and Wild Rice, Butternut Squash and Apple, Baked Potato

Naked Burritos

sudoku

LILY CRUZ / HERALD

Calvin Lambert MD’15, Jamila Wynter MD’17, Kelly Fitzgerald MD’17 and Daniel Ebner MD’17 discuss their experiences as medical students in an Alpert Medical School panel, part of the Science Center Pre-Health Series.

comics Against the Fence | Lauren Stone ’17

RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle c rNorris o s sandwJoyce o rNichols d Lewis Edited by Rich ACROSS 1 Conflict in FDR’s presidency 5 Readies, as presses 9 Pod prefix 12 Rise 13 Carding at a door 14 Indian honorifics 15 Stops for Carnival custs.

16 Finger, e.g.

17 Elton’s “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” duet partner 18 T’ai __ 19 Billy clubs 21 Indian language 23 User-edited site 24 Model in a bottle 27 Outer coating 29 Capital of Georgia 32 Works without a script 36 “This tape will self-destruct in five seconds” fictional spy org.

37 Architect Maya __ 38 Bug 39 24-hr. info source 40 Longing to see 42 Yellowish embellishment 44 “Sent” folder contents: Abbr.

45 Small cut 46 Tizzy 48 Singer Minaj 52 Maintaining shoe gloss, in a way 58 Popular show 59 Friends and neighbors 60 “Lemon Tree” singer Lopez 61 S&P 500 bank 62 NFL stats 63 Easy two-pointer 64 Diner orders, briefly 65 Letter before omega 66 Start of a library conversation 67 Señor’s assent DOWN 1 Question of choice 2 Words often heard before may and might

3 “You Be __”: 1986 Run-D.M.C. hit 4 They, in Tours 5 “Got it, man” 6 At hand 7 Make socks, e.g.

8 Pepper and Bilko: Abbr.

9 Prank 10 __-Tikki-Tavi: Kipling mongoose 11 Egyptian fertility goddess 13 Despot Amin 14 Street sport 19 Ones who reject established institutions 20 Instant 22 One way to get online, briefly 25 “Of Thee __” 26 Sonar pulses 27 Way more than sips 28 Beer from Japan 29 “A Christmas Carol” boy 30 Ratio involving ht. and wt.

31 Suppositions 33 __-fi

34 Accommodating place 35 Series with Capt.

Picard, to fans 41 Horseshoe makers 43 Printer spec.

46 Quick rides 47 Ness foe 49 Spicy pepper 50 Saint __ and Nevis: Caribbean country

51 Formal “Who’s there?” reply 52 Miss on purpose 53 Web address letters 54 “Elegy for __”: memoir about writer Murdoch 55 Pinches 56 Part of FDR: Abbr.

57 Diarist Anaïs 61 “Mike & Molly” network

Eric & Eliot | Willa Tracy ’17

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

calendar TODAY xwordeditor@aol.com

03/19/14

MARCH 19

12 P.M. STEPMOTHERS AND POPULAR CULTURE

Leslie Lindenauer ’80, author of a book on the construction of the stepmother in American popular culture, gives a talk about cultural attitudes toward stepmothers as they relate to womanhood and motherhood. Petteruti Lounge 6 P.M. DEGREE OF CHANGE: A LOOK AT FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE IDENTITY

Gregory Elliott, professor of sociology and one-time first-generation college student, talks about the dynamic identity of first-generation college students during and after the undergraduate experience. Salomon 001

TOMORROW

MARCH 20

4:30 P.M. HIPSTERS AND HAUTE COUTURE: FASHION POLITICS AT BROWN

Residential Peer Leaders host a workshop to discuss the intersection of politics and fashion trends from the runway to Brown. East Side Pockets provided. The Underground 9 P.M. “FANTASTIC MR. FOX” SCREENING

By Jim Horne and Jeff Chen (c)2014 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

The Brown University Film Forum presents a free screening of the animated comedy “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” directed by 03/19/14

Wes Anderson. Smith-Buonanno 106

6 commentary

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

EDITORIAL

Pushing forward, not staying in place If Ivy League schools come with characters, Brown’s is certainly established as one of progressivity and one that challenges established perspectives. Regardless of one’s personal views — or how one perceives the general culture at the University — the general consensus is that the political spectrum at Brown skews decidedly left. But in actuality, many of the University’s official actions are much more in line with the status quo than our reputation would have one believe. The recent and repeated refusals to divest from coal come to mind as examples of how the University has taken traditional positions on controversial issues.

Recently, however, an opportunity for the University to change this trend has developed. The Student Labor Alliance is pushing for the University to officially support the boycott of the Renaissance Hotel, which stems from reported unfair labor practices by the hotel. These allegations, if true, are quite serious, and we would encourage students to boycott the hotel until they restore the jobs of those allegedly fired for protesting. We would like the administration to begin to take braver stands on important issues, in line with our mission of innovation and willingness to buck the status quo.

Brown is a school that does not necessarily accept established conventions.

We have done away with core requirements, can take any class Satisfactory/ No Credit and can create our own concentrations. Brown takes the view that students should be the masters of their own education, and it is perhaps sometimes easy for those of us at the University to take this position for granted. Regardless of how one feels about this structure, it definitely challenged existing educational theories when it was first implemented. We’ve developed a progressive reputation based to some extent on this structure, but we cannot continue to depend on its legacy as a sign of our progressivity.

We must continue to push forward on our school’s official positions.

And if the University fails to push forward officially, its students will simply do so in its stead. After the coal divestment movement failed in its petitions of the University, several students involved with the organization worked with Rep. Arthur Handy, D-Cranston, to develop climate change legislation for the state legislature. Brown agreed to sponsor the bill, based on its students’ hand in creating it. This is an example of how, in the absence of support for an original push, the student body can and should push the University to take more innovative stances on issues rather than sticking with commonly held positions. With all the academic resources at our disposal, this school should continue to push forward in our quest to create a better world, rather than staying in place.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editors, Matt Brundage ’15 and Rachel Occhiogrosso ’14, and its members, Hannah Loewentheil ’14 and Thomas Nath ’16. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

I VA N A L C A N TA R A

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Grade inflation is bad To the Editor: A recent Herald article (“Fighting grade inflation: a cause without a rebel,” March 12) brought attention to the high proportion of As awarded at Brown­— 53.4 percent, to be exact.

Unfortunately, the response so far has been that grade inflation is no big deal (“Hillestad ’15: Grades — not

inflation — are the problem,” March 17).

Grade inflation undermines an incentive to learn more. It denies excellent students a chance to distinguish themselves. It promotes a sense of entitlement. The administration ought to make curbing grade inflation a priority.

Oliver Hudson ’14 Former Herald opinions columnist

Q U O T E O F T H E D AY

“If you’re against discrimination, gratuitous violence,

”

against prejudice, then you have to be for animal rights.

— Ingrid Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

See peta on page 1.

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commentary 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

The Corporation’s price of admission ADAM ASHER opinions columnist

According to the FBI, a criminal enterprise is “a group of individuals with an identified hierarchy, or comparable structure, engaged in significant criminal activity.”

Last November, SAC Capital Advisors L.P., the hedge fund of Steven A. Cohen P’08 P’16, was fined a staggering $1.8 billion by the federal government for insider trading activities.

Eight of the fund’s former employees have been slapped with criminal charges, all of whom have either pleaded or been found guilty. SAC Capital — recently rechristened Point72 Asset Management — is no longer allowed to manage outside money and now exists for the sole purpose of managing Cohen’s roughly $9 billion personal fortune. From a legal perspective, there is an argument to be made that SAC Capital is, under the FBI’s definition, a criminal enterprise.

But that can’t be true. If it were, that would mean we have a crime boss on our Corporation. It’s not as if we would stand for having Whitey Bulger on the Board of Trustees if he happened to have excellent managerial skills and financial acumen. We can accept Cohen’s explanation, offered in private to his friends,

that he has been unfairly targeted by the federal government and is being forced to pay “for the crimes of rogue employees,” as the New York Times put it last year. Mistakes were made, and they have been paid for.

Particularly now that a new round of civil investigations has begun, involving several traders at SAC Capital based on trades of Foundry Networks and Dell in 2008 and 2009, I’ve been wondering if we should start having a

sure is the best legal counsel money can buy.

To me, this implies that Cohen felt it was in his interests to make this whole issue go away as quickly as possible. He was negligent. He did not pay close enough attention. These are not opinions, but facts, confirmed to the tune of a federal lawsuit and a larger fine than any firm has been initially charged with in the history of Wall Street.

Rather than look at why Cohen should not

Rather than look at why Steven A. Cohen should not be on the Board of Trustees, let’s look at why he is. The first reason is money — a lot of it. conversation about whether Cohen should stay on the Corporation.

Since the investigation first became public, it has always been taken as a given that Cohen would remain on the Board of Trustees so long as he wasn’t sitting in a jail cell — and even then, I’m not sure he would have gotten the boot.

The bare facts of the case show that, under Cohen’s management, millions of dollars of insider trades were carried out with no ramifications. SAC Capital has agreed to pay $1.2 billion as a settlement based on what you can be

be a trustee, let’s look at why he is. The first reason is money — a lot of it. It would be very tough to figure out how much Cohen has given to the University over the years, but it’s safe to assume that if the money were to stop flowing from him, there would be a significant hole to fill. The second reason is his managerial counsel. Cohen has expanded his hedge fund from managing $25 million in 1992 to $9 billion today — and this only from personal funds, keep in mind. Insider trading aside, he clearly has an uncommonly brilliant mind for investing. He’s

an important voice in an institution that needs to ensure it has the financial reserves to operate in the way it wishes to.

The second reason doesn’t sit well with me because I find it hard to imagine there isn’t at least one other person on Wall Street who can offer comparable financial counsel — someone who hasn’t been fined nearly $2 billion by the federal government.

In terms of donations, though — well, it’s harder to make sense of that. The fact is, Brown does need money, and Cohen has a lot of it.

And if he’s willing to exchange that money for prestige and maybe a portrait in Sayles Hall one day, is that really so bad?

Maybe it isn’t. My inclination, though, is that it is. It really is that bad. Steven Cohen is not being held to the ethical standards of our University and should not be on the Corporation. I have no illusions about the impact of this piece. But I would ask anyone reading to understand that I’m not anti-Corporation. I’m not even all that anti-Wall Street. I’m for integrity and honesty in conduct, and all the evidence shows that Steven Cohen has a dearth of both.

Whether we want Steven Cohen’s money, and his counsel, is a question that deserves to be answered properly.

Adam Asher ’15 is concentrating in Classics.

Abolish the lab report GARRET JOHNSON opinions columnist

Many years ago, the elders of education sat down and revolutionized modern teaching. They came up with an invention that taught students to think critically, synthesize data and open our minds to the wonders of science. Indeed, without this development in education, students would be hopelessly adrift in a sea of abstract knowledge.

Where would be without the lab report?

A lot better off, in my opinion.

Generations of students have spent hours in lab, performing experiments predesigned for them, collecting the required data and then spending hours mindlessly spewing out the reports in the format demanded by professors. It’s a particularly soul-crushing exercise because there is absolutely no academic benefit to doing lab reports.

In theory, the point of a lab is to see the scientific theories learned in class in action. There is something very worthwhile in actually witnessing science rather than just being told that it’s there and that it follows

the rules outlined in class. Last semester in my developmental biology lab I was able to witness the importance of various ions in fertilization by attempting to fertilize sea urchin eggs in several different types of saltwater. That course was an exception to the rule of uninspiring labs — it was wonderfully unstructured and designed for us to perform experiments that interested us.

But the magic of science is lost

Dewey, whose work has inspired modern progressive education, once said, “Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of the imagination.” Where is the imagination in our labs? Even if we aren’t looking to make a “great advance” in PHYS 0040: “Basic Physics,” shouldn’t the goal of lab be to inspire students’ creativity and vision?

If you don’t believe Dewey, what

writing their lab report, or that they learned a lot from a lab period?

Far too often, labs shortchange students. We are told the answer is what is important, and everything else is given to us. But the truth is that the ability to ask good questions is far more valuable than the ability to answer them. Asking the right questions can lead to remarkable discoveries. Craig Mello ’82, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiolo-

Instead of being challenged to ask our own questions about science, we are given the questions and the formulae, and are told what to write. when, after an hours-long physics lab, we are asked to spend a full day recopying our data into a Word document, performing calculations to answer questions that are given to us, and writing useless summaries of why our data do not match the expected results. These types of assignments are not just boring. They also separate the scientific method from one of its most fundamental components: creativity.

Educational philosopher John

about Einstein? He wrote: “The mere formulation of a problem is far more often essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill.”

But in modern lab reports, there’s no room for formulating our own problems. Instead of being challenged to ask our own questions about science, we are given the questions and the formulae, and are told what to write.

When is the last time you heard people tell you that they really enjoyed

gy or Medicine for his work on RNA interference, said he was attracted to science because of its “focus on asking questions and admitting no absolutes,” as he told the journal Cell Death and Differentiation in 2007.

Not surprisingly, he doesn’t mention answering other people’s questions or following a flow chart as something that drew him to science.

If we want to produce more scientists like Mello, we have to change the way we think about lab work.

There is no better place to start than with the elimination of the lab report as we know it. It is an antiquated, useless exercise that wastes student time that could be better spent observing more science firsthand through extended hours in the lab.

If there must be a written report, it should require students to generate questions, propose follow-up experiments and think critically. Most of our current lab reports fail on all these fronts.

During my four years at Brown, I’ve been amazed at the high quality of teaching that is simply expected of our professors here. This is a place defined by free inquiry, critical thought and creativity. But we can do better. We must reevaluate our methods for teaching science.

Rather than instilling a weekly sense of dread in students by assigning mindless lab reports, we need to do whatever we can to encourage students to want to figure out how the world works.

Garret Johnson ’14 is probably working on a lab report as you read this. He can be reached at garret_johnson@brown.edu.

His column appears on alternate Wednesdays.

Got something to say? Leave a comment online!

Visit www.browndailyherald.com to comment on opinion and editorial content.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

THE

BROWN DAILY HERALD science & research Science & Research Roundup

BY ISOBEL HECK, SCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITOR

Researchers explore solutions for shallow water energy harvesting

COURTESY OF DAVID ORENSTEIN

A new technique distinguishes cell types in blood by looking at significant degrees of methylation in DNA. The lighter colors represent no methylation, while dark colors represent full methylation.

Partial cells could tell whole story DNA found in partial cells may be enough to get accurate white blood cell count, recent study finds

By JASON NADBOY STAFF WRITER

Intact blood cells may no longer be needed to understand the composition of human blood samples, according to a recent study led by William Accomando PhD’13, who is now a research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health.

This research could eventually be used to help monitor HIV patients without having to use fresh blood, wrote Karl Kelsey, professor of epidemiology, in an email to The Herald.

In the study, Accomando and his team determined a new way to profile white blood cells by using the cells’ DNA. The conventional method of counting the number of these diseasefighting cells in the bloodstream requires fresh blood and tissue, he said.

“With our approach, all you need is any blood sample stored any way.”

This work is particularly important because many laboratories have “tons of blood samples stored up in freezers,” Accomando said.

When frozen, cells can burst and “thus the information of the proportional cell-type composition is lost,” wrote Karin Michels, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Harvard

School of Public Health who was not involved in the study, in an email to The Herald.

Though conventional approaches would not be able to determine the number of white blood cells in these samples, the new technique can, Accomando said.

The conventional method involves using “surface markers” on the membrane of whole white blood cells to count them, Kelsey wrote in an email to The Herald. “Using our method, one can do the same thing without having to preserve the membrane.”

Instead of searching for surface makers, the new method scans for particular methylation sites that are unique to the DNA of white blood cells, Accomando said. “We are taking advantage of … what we know about DNA.” To use the new method, researchers first obtain a blood sample and isolate the DNA within it, Accomando said.

Next, researchers analyze methylation markers on the DNA, which create a specific profile of cell type since they indicate which stretches of DNA are turned off and turned on.

This process has “evolved to the point where we can use multiple methylation markers” to detect the DNA of white blood cells, Accomando added.

He noted that since DNA is the template off of which cells are constructed, it is a more reliable source of information about a cell than just surface markers.

“It can really be used to detect and quantify any type of cell,” Accomando said, referring to the broader implications of his work.

This new technology has the potential to phase out the conventional method — flow cytometry — of detecting proportions of white blood cells, Kelsey wrote.

With regards to the medical implications of his work, Accomando said the new method for analyzing blood cells “is not yet a diagnosis tool.” But he and others are already using the method in their research, he said, adding that it can be a “great tool for finding relationships between exposure and diseases.”

Michels wrote that the method is “most useful in epidemiologic research with large cohorts (that) have frozen blood samples.”

Since the researchers’ new approach is very different from conventional methods, it may take time for the medical community to accept it. “A challenge still going forward is convincing the older generation immunologists … that this new method … is just as good as the previous methods,” Accomando said.

The present study began as Accomando’s thesis when he was at the Graduate School, Kelsey wrote.

“When I was first starting grad school, I was impressed by the fact that we can distinguish different (cell) types with methylation sites at all,” Accomando said.

A group of University researchers, led by Assistant Professor of Engineering Shreyas Mandre, has developed a hydrofoil water wing that may allow for the harvesting of tidal power in shallow conditions, according to a University press release.

Use of tidal power presents promising opportunities in alternative energy, but until recently, shallow areas of water — often the best for harvesting tidal energy — were ignored due to concerns about wildlife, boats and logistics, according to the release.

The new water wing’s innovative shape is specialized for shallow water regions, avoiding some of these problems. While the wing is based on past models, it has a “secret sauce” — a computer algorithm that monitors the motion of the wing and directs its movements for maximum efficiency, Madre said in the release.

The researchers presented the preliminary laboratory results last month at both the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy Innovation Summit in Washington, D.C., and the Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change held by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I, and Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.

The researchers’ next step is to test the wing outside of the lab in ecologically valid conditions. They are “confident” their results will “scale with size” outside of the lab, Madre said in the release.

Salomon awards granted across disciplines

The Office of the Vice President for Research announced the 13 winners of the Richard B. Salomon Faculty Research awards earlier this month.

The awards of up to $15,000 are typically granted to junior faculty members based on the merit of their proposed research topics. This year’s winners were selected out of a pool of 27 applications and are spread across disciplines including the life and physical sciences, arts, humanities and social sciences, according to a University press release.

The program proves “innovative ideas of modest cost can be pursued by faculty that are distributed throughout the University, with the diversity of projects and the departments they represent a testament to the intellectual vitality among our scholars,” said David Savitz, vice president for research, in the release.

Funded projects this year include the creation of an exhibit of photographic collages, a study of the dynamics between hosts and pathogens in cottontail rabbits and an archaeological exploration in western Turkey, among others, according to the award’s website.

The office awarded a total of $192,839 in grants.

The winners will be recognized at the University Awards Ceremony in May. The awards this year went to Theresa Ganz, assistant professor of visual art, Stephen Gatesy, professor of biology, Alex Gourevitch, assistant professor of political science, Christopher de Graffenried, assistant professor of molecular microbiology and immunology, Jo Guldi, assistant professor of history, Amanda Jamieson, assistant professor of molecular microbiology and immunology, Ed Osborn, assistant professor of visual art, Keisha-Khan Perry, assistant professor of Africana studies and anthropology, Lukas Rieppel, assistant professor of history, Felipe Rojas, assistant professor of archaeology and ancient Western Asian studies, Anita Shukla, assistant professor of engineering, Katherine Smith, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, and Stefanie Tellex, assistant professor of computer science and engineering.

Researchers explore communication methods

In order for teens to participate in studies regarding HIV vaccines or prevention, it is important they understand vital experimental concepts, such as randomization and placebos, according to a study led by Michelle Lally, associate professor of medicine and health services, policy and practice.

The study, published this month in the Journal of Adolescent Health, examined the efficacy of one- and two-sided persuasive messaging in brochures used for educating study participants.

In one-sided persuasion, participants are only given facts, whereas in two-sided persuasion, participants are presented with misconceptions and explanations as to why they are wrong. Researchers presented the messaging to 120 youth participants who were randomly given one of the two types of brochures, according to the study.

The researchers found that participants who were given brochures with two-sided persuasion were more knowledgeable about concepts such as randomization and side effects of the study than those given brochures with one-sided persuasion. Despite increased knowledge, participants’ willingness to participate in the study remained the same, according to the study.

In the future, researchers plan to determine whether these results also apply to at-risk youth participants in actual trials involving HIV prevention.