IN THE CITY ing or mediating strikes in the public and private sectors. With little formal education or training, he earned his chops on the job, speaking for the machinists as Grand Lodge Representative at the Kennedy and Marshall space centers in the 1960s, serving the Department of Labor and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service under Presidents Nixon and Ford in the 1970s and helping to build workplace agreements among the United Auto Workers, General Motors and Toyota Motor Corporation through his highly successful Bill Usery and Associates mediation firm in the 1980s. Usery was also a great supporter of Georgia State. In 1985, he donated his vast personal collection of papers, photographs and recordings to the Southern Labor Archives, part of the University Library’s Special Collections and Archives. In 1997, the W.J. Usery Workplace Research Group was founded at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, which later established the William J. Usery Jr. Chair of the American Workplace in 2004. Usery was named a Distinguished Executive Fellow by the Andrew Young School in 2005. Despite his formidable presence and razor-sharp negotiation skills, those who knew him also knew of his generous spirit and his compendium of fascinating stories, all taken from his diverse work and life experiences. Usery died on Dec. 10, 2016, in Eatonton, Ga., leaving behind a legacy of service to the federal government and enduring impact in the field of labormanagement relations. Learn more about Bill Usery at library.gsu.edu/usery.
DISCOVERY VISCERAL REACTION Researchers make strides addressing the causes of colorectal cancer. On the rise since the mid-20th century, colorectal cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, claiming nearly 700,000 lives in 2012. Ac-
10
cording to researchers from the Institute for Biomedical Sciences, processed food additives may be contributing to the disease’s dramatic increase. Modern medicine has known for some time that an altered intestinal microbiota (the vast population of microorganisms that lives in the gut) plays a role in the development of colorectal Percent jump in cancer, but how or research funding at why has not been Georgia State over so clear. No strangthe last five years. ers to the subject, Emilie Viennois, Didier Merlin, Andrew Gewirtz and Benoit Chassaing wanted to figure out what could make a microbiota change for the worse. “The [disease’s] dramatic increase,” Chassaing said, “has occurred amid constant human genetics, suggesting a pivotal role for an environmental factor.” The same research team had already demonstrated that dietary emulsifiers, additives such as polysorbate 80 used in processed foods to improve texture and extend shelf life, promoted intestinal inflammation. And while inflammation was already associated with colorectal cancer, scientists did not know where to lay responsibility. Provable causes remained a mystery. Published in Cancer Research, the team’s newest study provides a missing piece of the puzzle. Emulsifiers do not just promote intestinal inflammation. They are drastically modifying gut bacteria. The altered microbiota then leads to inflammation, which creates favorable conditions for cancer to develop.
75
COOL IT Performance-enhancing drugs may improve athletic endurance but do so at significant risk. It’s no secret the human body survives and thrives on self-regulation. During exercise, for example, increased heat production in the muscles raises the body’s core temperature. When that core temperature exceeds a certain threshold, it signals exhaustion, a vital safety mechanism that keeps people from overheating and harming themselves. Until the body can cool itself down to a CONT’D ON P. 12
G E O R G I A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y M A G A Z I N E S P R I N G 2 0 1 7