Respected author and leading biologist Dr. Sean Carroll will discuss his work in biological development and evolution on Thursday, September 11, at 6:30 p.m. at Case Western Reserve University's Strosacker Auditorium .

Carroll's talk is one of the first events of Case Western Reserve's "Year of Darwin" celebration, an academic year-long series of university-sponsored events and programs examining the work and life of Charles Darwin.

The program is hosted by the College Scholars Program and SAGES.

Carroll is a professor of molecular biology and genetics and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Wisconsin. His research focuses on animal development and diversity in an evolutionary context.

Additionally, he has written a number of popular books, including The Making of the Fittest and Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo, centered on biological development and evolution, and Into the Jungle: Great Adventures in the Search for Evolution, which invites students to step into the lives of naturalists who followed their dreams, and often risked their lives, to explore the unknown.. His newest book, Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species, will be released in early 2009.

Named one of America's most promising leaders under the age of 40 by TIME magazine in 1994, Carroll has received the National Science Foundation Presidential Investigator Award, the Milwaukee Foundation's Shaw Scientist Award and numerous honorary lectureships. He has also authored or co-authored more than 100 scientific papers.

His discoveries have been featured in TIME, US News & World Report, The New York Times, Discover and Natural History. NOVA, the popular PBS science program, is developing a two-hour special based on his books.

The Year of Darwin celebration helps mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth (February 12, 1809)—and the 150th anniversary of the publication (November 24, 1859) of his influential book On the Origin of Species. The nineteenth-century British naturalist's work is the foundation for all modern biological science, agriculture and medicine. The series of lectures by diverse and well-known speakers such as Dr. Carroll, Judge Jones, and E.O. Wilson, hosted by the university between August 2008 and April 2009, will demonstrate the importance and wide applicability of evolutionary ideas and approaches in varied spheres of intellectual and practical endeavor. Additional details are available online.

For more information contact Jason Tirotta, 216.368.6890.

Philip Dixon's dental practice is a happy place. Polaroids of dozens of smiling children—members of this year's "Cavity Free Club"—adorn the walls of his New Philadelphia, Ohio practice. His wife Carolyn joins him daily to manage the office and staff. He even enjoys the occasional practical joke from a long-time patient and friend (who once appeared at the office with an entire spool of floss interwoven between his teeth, giving his mouth a mummy-like appearance).

"There has never been a better time to be a dentist," Dixon (DDS '83) remarks of his beloved profession. "I always knew this profession had the potential to be financially rewarding, but it is also incredibly satisfying to help people."

Dixon, who is a 1983 graduate of the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine, has recently shown his appreciation to the school by making a deferred payment charitable gift annuity.

"I've always believed in the statement that the more you give the more you get," remarks Dixon, who also gives generously to his church and community.

"I also feel a responsibility to give back to Case Western Reserve. The school helped me work out the economic challenge of advanced education," recalls Dixon. This support was particularly helpful to Dixon as he moved his wife and two young children cross-country to Cleveland after earning his bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University.

"It is always heartening to see alumni support the school," comments Jerold S. Goldberg, dean of the School of Dental Medicine. "But it is particularly meaningful to see younger donors looking at ways to use giving vehicles like annuities to the advantage of both the institution and their own financial planning."

In addition to his financial commitment, Dixon also shares his time and leadership as a charter member of the dental school's renewed Alumni Association Board of Directors. The board provides guidance as the association keeps alumni in touch through reunion planning and other events.

Both of the Dixons enthusiastically support the school's increased emphasis on providing clinical experience to dental students early on in their education. "It's so important for students to dive right into the clinical environment," Carolyn Dixon notes. "The sealant program, the simulators, and training in office administration are all steps that set Case apart as a world-class educator."

As the dental school continues to educate the next generation of dentists, Philip Dixon continues to serve the dental needs of his small town.

"The more he practices, the more he loves it," Carolyn concludes.

To learn more about including Case Western Reserve in your estate planning, please contact John Shelley, executive director of planned giving, at (216) 368-4460.

For more information contact Susan Griffith, 216.368.1004.

Hector Vega designs and donates his artistic talents to major civic art project

Celebrated Cleveland artist Hector Vega, known for his bold and graphic paintings, has donated designs for a mural at the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority's University Circle Station on RTA's Red Line.

A corps of 100 volunteers from Case Western Reserve University are being sought to paint the mural as part of the university's annual service day, Case for Community, on Friday, September 19. Site volunteers will also landscape the adjacent park with new plants, benches, tables and a community garden for neighborhood students and residents.

Activities kick off at 11 a.m. in Thwing Student Center with an Italian lunch donated by campus caterer, Bon Appétit and remarks by Case Western Reserve University President Barbara Snyder. At 11:45 a.m., volunteers will travel to volunteer locations. Go online for a complete list of service opportunities and to register by Friday, September 12.

The Center for Community Partnerships, which sponsors Case for Community, has undertaken the mural project as one of its major events for service day. In addition, another 500 volunteers will do over 50 specific projects at nearby community organizations and for events on campus during the service hours.

The most visible service project will be the art mural designed by Hector Vega. It is considered to be a major gateway for both Cleveland Heights and Cleveland as it is traveled daily by thousands taking private or RTA transportation by bus or train.

In addition to Vega's generous design donation, Sherwin Williams will provide paint and equipment to finish the project. Students from the Cleveland School of the Arts and Brush High School, under the direction of art teacher Sarah Curry, also a noted local artist and Vega's friend, will assist in sketching out the design and act as team captains in directing the volunteer painting.

Staff from the Office of University Marketing and Communications, Big Brothers Big Sisters (including Bigs from the School of Law and their Littles) and Jacqueline Nanfito from the department of modern languages and literature and La Nueva Alianza, the Hispanic student organization on campus, have volunteered to work on this project.

"Case for Community Day is one of those events that provide deep satisfaction as you create opportunities for others to serve the needs of others," said Latisha James, director of the university's Center for Community Partnerships. "In these few hours, we not only transform the lives of others in a positive manner, but the fabric of our neighborhoods as well."

Throughout the year, the university's faculty, staff and students invest approximately 400,000 in volunteer service hours. But Case for Community Day is special by bringing the entire campus together to volunteer as a team on the same day.

The 34, six-foot wide sections along the RTA Red Line's south bus loop provide a large canvas for Vega "to capture the energy and essence of the area." People, moving cars and buses, pedestrians, outdoor cafes and more make up images in the montage of life in the two cities.

"This was a great opportunity for me to do a mural in such a highly visible location," said Vega.

Assisting Vega with the sketching to scale of his mural drawings will be Advance Placement and portfolio students from Curry's art classes at Brush High School in South Euclid. Curry's students will act as team leaders for the event and help volunteer painters fill in the larger sections. On Saturday, the students will return to the site and help Vega blend the colors and touch up areas where needed.

The design captures the energy and essence of University Circle, Cleveland and Cleveland Heights in a montage of images from its healthcare industry to the vibrant flowers of Rockefeller Park's cultural gardens.

The new mural will replace a former design, donated by the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1999 and painted under the leadership of CIA student Kelly Chorpening.

Feeling a close connection to mentors in Cleveland Heights who have helped his career and the city he has lived in since immigrating to Cleveland at the age of eight from Gurabo Puerto Rico, Vega agreed to do the mural.

The Lincoln-West High School graduate, who now works for Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, is a self-taught artist.

His first commission came at the age of 11 years when a landlord paid Vega $25 to paint a picture to cover a hole in the wall in the family's rented west side apartment.

Vega calls it "good karma" to give much of his work to charities&emdash;especially those involved with children&emdash;from the annual heart design for the Cleveland Clinic Children Hospital's Heart Throb Ball to designs for a new sculpture for Rainbow Babies and Children Hospital. He also provides art for the Tri-C Jazz Festival.

"I acknowledge what my roots were like when I was a child. All kids are innocent, and they should be given a chance or shot at life," says Vega.

His commissioned works appear in private and corporate collections and have been done for various cities, who have sought Vega's talents to capture the spirit of their cities.

Case Western Reserve University partners with organizations throughout Northeast Ohio throughout the year. The university offers over 500 community outreach programs to nearly 600 community partners in the areas of academic, health, social service, community and economic development. As a campus, Case Western Reserve University faculty, staff and students invest approximately 400,000 hours of volunteer service each year; impact nine local school districts and 29 international countries. To learn more about how the university is engaged in the community, contact the Center for Community Partnerships at (216) 368-3909 or go online.

For more information contact Susan Griffith, 216.368.1004.

Journalist Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, author of the critically acclaimed book Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx, will discuss her writings as the featured speaker for the fourth annual Anisfield-Wolf Lecture. The free, public event will take place at 12:30 p.m., Friday, September 12 in Severance Hall.

In 2004, Random Family won an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award®, which recognizes recent books that have made important contributions to understanding racism and appreciation of the rich diversity of human cultures, and was named one of the ten best books of the year by The New York Times Book Review.

LeBlanc's work often focuses on poverty and adolescence, providing what critics called "mastery as an observer of human character." Her subjects tend to be marginal figures—prostitutes, drug dealers and female gang members—but she makes their mundane, gritty lives riveting to readers. For Random Family, LeBlanc spent ten years getting to know the two young Latina women whose complicated lives, and the risks they face, she traces in her book.

A 2006 recipient of a MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant," LeBlanc has written documentary-style pieces for The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Yankee Magazine and The Village Voice, among others.

Her current project is a book exploring the lives, dreams, and realities of stand-up comedians.

The free, public event is presented by Case Western Reserve University's Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities and SAGES, in conjunction with the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards and the Cleveland Foundation.

To learn more, call (216) 368-8961 or visit the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities online. Pre-registration is encouraged.

For more information contact Susan Griffith, 216.368.1004.

Testing follows 21 days or more of bed rest during pregnancy

After weeks of bed rest during pregnancy, new mothers need to rebuild muscles and strengthen their stamina. Now a group of women will test new interventions in aiding that recovery during a pilot study at Case Western Reserve University's Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing.

"Putting people in bed is not a benign kind of thing," says Judith Maloni, a professor of nursing at the School of Nursing. She has been studying the effects of bed rest for nearly two decades and aerospace research studies conducted by NASA have shown that bed rest changes every major organ system in the body and its function.

During her study, "Rebound: A Self-Management Intervention for Recovery from Ante-partum Bed Rest," Maloni will test a set of exercises and educational programs that help women learn to manage their recovery after both bed rest and birth.

The study is supported by the Bolton School's Center for Excellence for Self-Management Advancement through Research and Translation (SMART). It is among four projects the center is piloting to learn more about teaching individuals how to manage their own health care.

Nearly one million pregnant women annually are sent to bed near the end of their pregnancies to prevent preterm labor, premature rupture of membranes, placenta previa, incompetent cervix or placental abruption.

According to Maloni, many women leave the hospital and cannot understand why they suffer back problems and muscle aches and are fatigued while other new mothers seem to bounce back after giving birth.

Maloni said she would like bed-rest moms to understand that what they are experiencing is normal for women who have been on bed rest.

They may need physical therapy and other interventions to regain the strength to do normal activities like taking care of other children, doing household tasks or participating in activities in the community or with friends, said Maloni.

Following delivery, these women must overcome the long-term effects of bed rest. Other research has found these effects can be bone loss; decreases in body mass, fluid loss and plasma; depression; and muscle weakness.

Maloni will recruit 80 women who have had good physical and mental health and had at least 21 days or more of bed rest prior to their baby's birth.

These women will be evaluated two days into the study with follow-ups after two months and three months. At the end of testing, Maloni will offer the new intervention to the women in the control group.

The new intervention is a set of cardiovascular and strength exercises developed for the elderly, who, like new mothers, may be in a state of physical deterioration.

Women in this group will be tested for their physical capabilities during a six-minute walk, 30 seconds of sit-stands and two minutes of stepping in place.

In a prior study on the ability of bed-rest mothers to function after childbirth, Maloni reported that women who were given the exercises from the Rikkli Jones Senior Fitness Test walked an average of 217 feet in 4.8 minutes. This was the same level of performance as women in the 70-75 age group.

Maloni has studied the postpartum conditions of bed-rest moms until six weeks and found that many of them are still fatigued. By following the women to the third month, she hopes to discover if longer intervention is need to help women regain lost strength and stamina.

Pregnant woman on bed rest who are interested in participating in the study are encouraged to contact Maloni at 216-368-2912 or go online.

For more information contact Susan Griffith, 216.368.1004.

Needed: Case Western Reserve University Spartans of all ages for the sixth annual Case for Community Day on Friday, September 19. Requirements include time to volunteer for an afternoon of serving the needs of campus neighbors and community organizations.

Coordinated by the Center for Community Partnerships, a volunteer force of nearly 600 hundred people are being sought from campus to serve the needs of the local community during this rewarding day of service.

The event begins with a free Italian lunch menu and short program led by President Barbara Snyder at 11 a.m. in the Thwing Student Center and continues throughout the afternoon at volunteer sites across the city. The day concludes about 4 p.m. with an outdoor barbecue complete with live music performed by Cleveland Councilman Kevin Conwell & the Footprints Jazz Trio along with Carlos Jones & the Plus Band on the Kelvin Smith Library Oval. Demonstrating their commitment to social responsibility and Case Western Reserve, Bon Appétit will donate the foods and services for lunch for all volunteers.

Community Projects

Each year Case for Community Day features a variety of campus and community projects for volunteers to select.

One includes a highly visible project with local artist Hector Vega, who will redesign a public mural at the University Circle Rapid Transit Station located at the bottom of Cedar Hill. Sponsored by Sherwin Williams and the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA), a battalion of 100 volunteers will help Vega paint the new mural comprised of 34 six-foot panels.

In addition, the nearby park will receive a facelift with fresh paint, new landscaping, benches and picnic tables. A community garden will be established in the park for local residents and students living on the south side of campus. All materials for the mural and park are being donated by Sherwin Williams, RTA and landscaping partners of Case Western Reserve.

"Case for Community day is a wonderful event that brings our campus and its neighbors together. I applaud all of the volunteers who have been involved in previous years, and encourage everyone to take part in the activities this September 19," said Snyder.

Volunteers are needed for more than 50 service projects to assist in tasks identified by community agencies.

For individuals unable to leave campus or their work areas, they can contribute through campus drives for school supplies for local school children, canned goods for the Cleveland Foodbank and blood for the American Red Cross.

The campus can view a complete list of service opportunities beginning today and register as a volunteer. Registration closes on Friday, September 12, 2008.

Charity Choice Campaign

Created by the Staff Advisory Council in 2002, Case for Community Day also launches the university's annual Charity Choice Campaign to raise money for a federation of nonprofit organizations comprised of United Way, Earth Shares and Community Shares agencies. Since 2001, the university has donated nearly $1 million to the community. The campaign will continue through November.

Service Grants

As a new addition to the day's activities, Snyder will announce the winners of community service grants sponsored by the Center for Community Partnerships. Campus members are encouraged to apply for funding for upcoming community service initiatives in 2008-09. Download the application. The deadline is September 2, 2008.

Case Western Reserve University offers over 500 community outreach programs to nearly 600 community partners in the areas of academic, health, social service, community and economic development. As a campus, Case Western Reserve University faculty, staff and students invest approximately 400,000 hours of volunteer service each year; impact nine local school districts and 29 international countries. To learn more about how the university is engaged in the community, contact the Center for Community Partnerships at (216) 368-3909 or visit the Web site.

For more information contact Susan Griffith, 216.368.1004.

Case Western Reserve University's Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence is bringing the individual most knowledgeable perhaps about the human genome to campus September 4.

Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., a physician-geneticist and former leader of the Human Genome Project—who also is the recipient of the inaugural Inamori Ethics Prize from the Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence at Case Western Reserve—will discuss "The Promise and Peril of the Genomic Revolution" at 1 p.m. September 4 in Severance Hall.

Joseph Nadeau, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Genetics at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, will provide an introduction. The event also will feature video presentations about the Inamori Ethics Prize and its first recipient.

Both the lecture, and a symposium with Collins and Case Western Reserve faculty that follows at 2 p.m. in Severance Hall, are part of the daylong Inamori Ethics Prize Celebration. The lecture and symposium are free and open to the public. Dress is business attire.

The Inamori Ethics Prize Ceremony, during which Collins will be presented with a one-of-a-kind medal, designed by the University Marketing and Communications creative team, and a monetary prize, begins at 6 p.m. in the Reinberger Auditorium of Severance Hall. Tickets to the prize ceremony are $25 and can be purchased through the Severance Hall box office at 216-231-1111. Dress is business attire or black tie.

Tickets to the celebration's gala dinner at 7:30 p.m. at Severance Hall are $250, which includes admission to the prize ceremony. Attire is black tie.

In addition to details about the Inamori Ethics Prize celebration, the August issue of the "Message Form The Director" newsletter from the Inamori Center announces two upcoming events that are part of the university's 2008-2009 Celebration of Darwin and Evolution.

The Inamori Center will host Robert J. Richards, Morris Fishbein Professor in the History of Science and Medicine at the University of Chicago and noted author of evolutionary theory, at 5 p.m. September 18 in the Wolstein Research Building first-floor auditorium and the university's Public Affairs Discussion Group at 12:30 p.m. September 19 at the center on the ground floor of Crawford Hall. Richards will discuss "Darwinian Moral Theory," and the discussion group will cover "Evolution and Politics."

Shannon E. French, Ph.D., most recently the associate chair of the Department of Leadership, Ethics and Law at the United States Naval Academy, where she had been a member of the civilian faculty since 1997, has been named the center's new director, effective September 8.

All Case Western Reserve University faculty, staff and students are invited to a reception honoring Eastwood for his dedication to Case Western Reserve from 3-5 p.m. September 5 at the Alumni House. Please RSVP by September 2 to Jane Howarth Vogelsberger.

University plans year-long celebration of public events across the schools and departments

Charles Darwin and evolution—the man and his ideas such as natural selection—will be highlighted at Case Western Reserve University this coming academic year. The university will celebrate Darwin’s legacy and influence during the 2008-09 Year of Darwin and Evolution.

The celebration overlaps with the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth on February 12, 1809, the same day President Abraham Lincoln was born. The 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s influential book, On the Origins of Species, occurs later in 2009.

Instead of a one or two-day event, throughout the academic year schools and departments across campus have planned activities from lectures to a theatrical event, according to Neil Greenspan, professor of pathology at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and chair of the faculty-driven planning committee for the Darwin celebration.

Greenspan said he and his colleagues on the planning committee want to emphasize the depth and breadth of the evidence for biological evolution and to highlight the broad relevance of evolutionary principles, concepts and methods to science and other disciplines.

THOUGHTS ON DARWIN

“Evolution will continue to be relevant to numerous domains of human endeavor and well worth celebrating as one of the most influential ideas in the history of human efforts to understand the world and our place in it,” said Greenspan. Scientists from a variety of fields are seeing support for Darwin’s original thoughts.

“Darwin’s greatest contribution,” offers Case Western Reserve paleontologist and Darwin Year committee member Darin Croft, “is that he provided an explanation for the fossil record, one that is elegant in its simplicity.”

Like Darwin, Croft studies ancient South American mammals. “I’ve always felt an academic closeness with Darwin. Darwin’s exploration of South America on the Beagle was critical for his idea of evolution through natural selection. He, too, collected fossil mammals there,” says Croft.

“Some of the strange animals found in South America, in fact, helped him realize that entire groups of animals once lived in South America but had gone extinct—an observation that pushed him toward evolution through natural selection and away from the world of immutable species,” he added.

Darwin’s thoughts, while acceptable to the scientific community, have met with resistance in other areas.

Greenspan said “the extensive press coverage of the controversies relating to the teaching of evolution tended to obscure the fact that there is effectively no controversy within biology or biomedical science as to whether evolution occurs.”

He added that the debates surrounding the public education curriculum fostered such misconceptions as that evolution is an essentially random process.

“In fact, evolution via natural selection, at a minimum, relies on a two-step process: generation of genetic differences (that cause variation in traits that can be inherited) and differential reproductive success as a function of that diversity in traits. While the production of variation in genes and in the traits influenced by those genes involves a random element, selection is distinctly non-random. In fact, non-randomness is the very essence of natural selection.”

DARWIN YEAR UNDERWAY

The Darwin celebration got an early launch as incoming first-year students received David Quammen’s The Reluctant Mr. Darwin as this year’s Common Reading selection—the university’s summer reading selection for incoming first-year students. Quammen’s appearance and talk during Fall Convocation (http://www.case.edu/convocation/registration/ ) at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, August 28, in Severance Hall is the first free, public Darwin Year event.

It continues in September with respected author and leading biologist Sean Carroll from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Wisconsin and Gary Litman, a faculty member in the department of pediatrics from the University of South Florida. Carroll will discuss his work on animal development and evolution on Thursday, Sept. 11, at 6:30 p.m. at Case Western Reserve University’s Strosacker Auditorium (2125 Adelbert Road on the Case Western Reserve University Quad). Litman’s talk is scheduled for the Ecker Lecture at the medical school on Tuesday, September 9, during which he will discuss the evolution of the immune system.

For more information and a list of events for the Celebration of Darwin and Evolution, visit http://www.case.edu/darwin/.

Undergraduate programs hold steady in annual survey of America’s Best Colleges 2009

Case Western Reserve University has been rated Ohio’s top school among the nation’s premier national universities, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report, for the 13th consecutive year. The rankings were released on Friday, Aug. 22.

Case Western Reserve ranks 41st overall in the publication’s annual “America’s Best Colleges 2009” undergraduate rankings and lists as the only Ohio institution in the top 50. Case Western Reserve has been Ohio’s top-ranked university every year since 1996.

The university also ranks 25th in the “best values” category, which focuses on academic quality in relation to cost of attending the university.

“Our new strategic plan envisions significant improvements in education and research,” said President Barbara R. Snyder. “As we enhance our actual academic quality, the university’s reputation will advance as well. I look forward to both developments.”

The annual rankings – in which U.S. News groups school based on categories created by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching – represent the most comprehensive look at how schools stack up based on a set of 15 widely accepted indicators of excellence, and help consumers evaluate and compare data compiled from more than 1,400 accredited four-year schools.

The magazine evaluates more than 255 universities that offer a wide range of undergraduate majors, as well as master’s and doctoral degrees, in addition to an emphasis on faculty research, and then ranks the schools on academic quality.

Several individual programs also achieved high rankings. The university’s undergraduate business programs at the Weatherhead School of Management moved up three spots to 30th, while the overall undergraduate engineering program is at number 38. The programs are ranked solely on peer assessment surveys.

For more information contact Laura Massie, 216.368.4442.

As the Case Western Reserve University Class of 2012 make their way to campus this fall, most of them will have already completed their first assignment: The reading of The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution by David Quammen.

Of the book, which was published in 2006, a Los Angeles Times Book Review critic wrote that "Quammen brilliantly and powerfully re-creates the 19th century naturalist's intellectual and spiritual journey."

Case Western Reserve's common reading selection — and its annual Fall Convocation speaker for 2008— will help kick off the university's yearlong celebration of Darwin. To mark the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth (February 12, 1809)—and the 150th anniversary of the publication (November 24, 1859) of his influential book On the Origin of Species—the university will pay tribute to the British naturalist with a university-wide celebration from fall 2008 to summer 2009.

In his book, Quammen sketches a vivid life portrait of Darwin and his reluctance to publish his controversial theory of evolution. Twenty-one years passed between Darwin's epiphany that "natural selection" formed the basis of evolution and the publication of On the Origin of Species. Quammen explores why Darwin delayed the groundbreaking publication, as well as what happened during the course of those two decades.

The book was distributed to new undergraduate students this summer. Leading up to and at the beginning of the fall semester, students will have an opportunity to discuss the book during small group discussions, and faculty will be encouraged to consider the reading— and the Darwin Bicentennial—when designing course curricula for the coming academic year. Also, incoming students, current and transfer students, as well as faculty, have an opportunity to enter essay contents with the book as a common theme.

In addition to reading the book and having the opportunity to write an essay, the university community will get to learn more about Darwin when Quammen keynotes the university's Fall Convocation, the first, formal celebration to kick off the new academic year, on August 28 in Severance Hall. Quammen, the author of over a dozen books who was educated at Yale and Oxford universities, has tentatively titled his lecture "Darwin vs. Himself: Caution and Honesty in the Life of a Reluctant Revolutionary."

The common reading program, which was implemented in 2002 for incoming first-year, serves as a basis for programs and discussions beginning at orientation and continuing through the fall semester. The committee solicits recommendations from the campus community, and selections are usually chosen based on their appeal to young adults, relevance to new college students, the author's availability to speak at the university, and the potential to ignite discussions across campus.

For more information contact Kimyette Finley, 216.368.0521.

Astronomers join new phase of Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Astronomers at Case Western Reserve University are participating in the newest phase of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), the most ambitious survey of the sky ever undertaken.

Located in Apache Point, N.M., the SDSS began mapping the night sky in 2000. The third phase of SDSS began in July 2008 and Case Western Reserve is an active collaborator throughout its six-year agenda, said Heather Morrison, professor and chair of the department of astronomy at the university.

This phase of SDSS is made up of four different projects. Morrison is involved with the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE) venture.

"Our focus during the first year is on the Milky Way and the stars that make it up, looking at everything in terms of four dimensions," said Morrison. "The fourth dimension in this case is velocity. In addition to seeing how big our galaxy is, we also are looking to calculate how fast its stars are moving."

In addition to Morrison's involvement, Paul Harding, observatory manager at Case Western Reserve and astronomy alumnus Dan Oravetz will be contributing to handling the actual survey operation as well as the science that results from the survey data. The university first joined the SDSS during its second phase, which ended in June 2008.

In the past, star maps were made using 14-inch photographic plates with less than optimal accuracy. The telescope now features a grid of 30 charge-coupled devices (CCDs) that greatly increase the accuracy of the images.

Mapping the stars in the Milky Way, measuring both distance and velocity, also is made much easier than in years past through the use of a highly efficient spectrograph and fiber optic cables attached to aluminum plates, roughly a meter in diameter. Each plate can record data for as many as 650 stars and other celestial bodies.

Precise coordinates for each star to be analyzed are marked on each aluminum plate. Fiber optic cables are attached to each coordinate on the plate and fed to the spectrograph for data analysis. Analyzing the spectra from each star provides its distance from earth and its velocity.

The ability of the 2.5-meter telescope, coupled with a large image camera and seven square degree spectroscopic field, to record so much data about so many objects at one time has redefined what the SDSS is currently surveying.

"When SDSS began in 2000, it primarily looked at different galaxies, rather than individual stars," said Morrison. "But a few fibers were connected to the plates to view what [was] referred to as boring old stars and the exciting results that were obtained changed some minds."

Morrison says that one third of the second phase of the project (SDSS-II), was devoted to looking at individual stars. The first year of SDSS-III will almost completely focus on stars. To date, the survey has mapped approximately one quarter of the sky.

In mapping the Milky Way, Morrison said that researchers are looking at just how far the edges of the galaxy extend. One star so far has been discovered at 200,000 light years away. Morrison hopes to gather data in the next year on stars up to 300,000 light years away.

Morrison, Harding and Oravetz are part of a collaborative research team. The lead investigator on the SEGUE project is Constance Rockosi at University of California, Santa Cruz. Among the other participating institutions are Cambridge University, Johns Hopkins University, Princeton University and University of Chicago.

Once the data gathering phase of SEGUE is completed, three new projects will commence, including one known as BOSS, which will detect and analyze acoustic echoes from the early universe. Idit Zehavi, assistant professor of astronomy at Case Western Reserve, is an active participant on this project.

Funding for the SDSS is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Japanese Monbukagakusho, the Max Planck Society and the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

For more information contact Susan Griffith, 216.368.1004.

Goal of research is to find ways to help families with healthy food choices

As Ohio and Michigan fruit and vegetable farms yield this year's harvest, they also will provide data about the eating choices of Latino migrant children for a Case Western Reserve University researcher.

Information gathered this summer will help migrant families understand why their children are part of the growing national obesity epidemic and contribute to new interventions to combat this serious health issue.

With a 41 percent obesity rate among migrant workers' children—a figure that is double the nation's average—Jill Kilanowski, a pediatric nurse practitioner and assistant professor at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, will survey families about their eating habits and lifestyle issues.

In Kilanowski's pilot project, "Dietary Intake and Nutritional Education (DINE) for Latino Migrant Farmworkers," she will visit farms near Fremont and Tipp City Ohio, and South Haven, Michigan, and talk to approximately 60 families with children between the ages of 2 and 13.

The project is one of the new pilot studies launched by the National Institute of Health-funded Center of Excellence Self-Management Advancement through Research and Translation (SMART) at the nursing school, which was established to find ways to help people self-manage their own health care.

Kilanowski plans to take the data and develop healthy, low cost and culturally appropriate health promotion interventions to assist families in planning and serving up balanced meals that fit the lifestyle of the working migrant family.

The interventions also will be designed to help working mothers, she said, who may have little energy or time after a day working the fields to satisfy the family's hunger.

Hurried working moms getting a quick dinner on the table and high calorie snack choices between meals might be contributing to the obesity problem, said Kilanowski.

Kilanowski will find out what migrant workers' children are eating for snacks and dinners. She also will learn what physical activities children participate in and whether living in a rural farm environment – possibly too far from organized sports, playgrounds and dependable transportation – might also be part of the obesity problem, she said.

She also has financial funding support from her postdoctoral scholar work through the Case/Cleveland Clinic Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Training Program, which is part of the NIH Clinical Translational Science Award. This study expands previous research Kilanowski has done, where she found that "migrant workers have a low level of food security—that is the lack of well-balanced food choices readily available at all times to maintain a healthy life."

"This can happen seasonally when agricultural work ends or when money runs out at the end of the month," said Kilanowski.

She also will investigate lifestyle questions about how food is prepared, if the family has a working oven, and how much and what kinds of food are eaten each day.

Protecting the families' privacy, Kilanowski will collect survey data by having families use personal assistant devices (PDA) that have been programmed in cooperation with the university's Center for Health Promotion Research to provide the survey questions via headphones and PDA monitors. Questions will be both in written and oral English and Spanish to make the questions accessible to the participants.

As part of the study, Kilanowski will look at the effectiveness of this technology as a way to gather sensitive information and then share it with other researchers at the university.

Kilanowski's research is among four pilot studies being launched by SMART. Others focus on cardiac rehab, antepartum bed rest recovery and substance abuse treatment.

For more information contact Susan Griffith, 216.368.1004.

Findings have potential link to post-partum depression

New research from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine demonstrates the importance of brain serotonin for offspring survival.

The study, “Serotonergic Transcriptional Programming Determines Maternal Behavior and Offspring Survival,” appears in the September 2008 issue of Nature Neuroscience. It uses Pet-1 mutant mice, genetically altered mice carrying a mutation in a gene that directs the development of the brain serotonin neurotransmitter system, to investigate the system’s role in maternal behavior and its impact on offspring survival.

“Alterations in brain serotonin levels have been linked to several mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety,” said Evan Deneris, Ph.D., senior author on the study and Professor of Neurosciences at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine who, together with Jessica Lerch-Haner, Ph.D.-student in the School of Medicine, lead this study. “However, despite the prevalence of postpartum depression and the frequent use of serotonergic drugs such as Prozac and Zoloft to treat this disorder, a requirement for maternal serotonin function in the mother’s behavior toward her offspring had not been convincingly demonstrated, until now.”

Although Pet-1 deficient mice mothers showed normal rates of pregnancy and gave birth to normal numbers of offspring, none of their offspring survived to five days of age, therefore directly demonstrating a critical role for the brain serotonin neurotransmitter system in reproductive success of mice.

Further studies indicated that a specific deficiency of maternal care was the cause of pup mortality. Rodent neonates are not able to maintain proper body temperature on their own; essential maternal care includes construction of proper nests and huddling of offspring in the nests for warmth. Although Pet-1 deficient mothers nursed their offspring they often failed to build suitable nests and never organized offspring in a huddle. Thus, offspring neglect led to death from cold exposure.

The study also showed that a partial restoration of Pet-1 function in the developing brain of females partially restored their serotonin levels and maternal behavior in adulthood. This finding indicated that subtle changes in the embryonic formation of the brain serotonin system in females can impact the quality of the maternal care they later provide for their offspring.

Future studies with Pet-1 deficient mothers may help to further elucidate the link between serotonin and maternal behavior and lead to the development of new therapeutic approaches for treatment of post-partum depression and child neglect.

Lead author on the study is Jessica K. Lerch-Haner, who is a graduate student in Deneris's lab. Other authors are Dargan Frierson, University of North Carolina, Wilmington Dept. of Mathematics and Statistics; LaTasha Crawford and Sheryl Beck, Dept. of Anesthesiology, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania.

Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences research highlights the issue

Spouses of husbands and wives with dementia pay an emotional toll as they care for their ailing spouse. This has prompted a call for new interventions and strategies to assist caregivers in coping with the demands of this difficult time, according to a study from Case Western Reserve University’s Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.

“Caregivers have a long exposure to stresses and losses from the dementia and fatigue that comes from caring for their spouses, so they experience fewer positive emotions,” said Kathryn Betts Adams, assistant professor of social work at the Mandel School. “Some may have feelings of guilt about participating in activities with friends or in the community when their loved ones are no longer able to do so.”

Adams added that caregivers also report sadness and loneliness.

While prior studies have shown that caregiving can be a factor in diagnosing depression, Adams analyzed data from spouse caregivers and compared their responses to non-caregivers at the symptom level to determine which symptoms were especially common.

Findings from the research study of 391 caregivers and 226 non-caregivers from the Case Western Reserve University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center are described in the Journal of International Psychogeriatrics article, “Specific Effects of Caring for a Spouse with Dementia: Differences in Depressive Symptoms between Caregiver and Non-Caregiver Spouses.”

After factoring out age, gender, education and income levels and race, some 25 percent of caregivers suffered from depression in contrast to only five percent of non-caregivers studied, said Adams. The caregivers were most notably different from the non-caregivers in their lack of positive emotions such as happiness or hopefulness.

The study’s participants resided with their spouses. Of the spouses with dementia, approximately half had mild dementia, with 37 percent in stages of moderate to severe dementia. Only 23 percent of those questioned did not feel burdened by the responsibilities of caring for their spouses, but the remaining spouses reported feeling mildly to severely burdened.

Adams suggested that caregivers might benefit from support groups that “normalize” the emotions that surface while watching the dementia of their loved ones worsen. They can also be taught caregiving and decision making skills and given “permission” to increase pleasurable activities and engage in self-care.

For more information contact Susan Griffith, 216.368.1004.

Case Western Reserve University officially opens each academic year with its Annual Fall Convocation; this year the tradition will double as the launch of the university's 2008-2009 Year of Darwin and Evolution.

In addition to the customary program, convocation keynote speaker and common reading author David Quammen will kickoff a year-long series of events celebrating Charles Darwin's life, his work and the diverse ways in which evolutionary theory continues to influence research and thought in numerous fields.

Convocation begins at 4:30 p.m. August 28 in Severance Hall. A light reception and book signing follows on Freiberger Field. Register online by August 25.

The ceremony will include an academic procession and recognition of students for community service and leadership. In addition, President Barbara R. Snyder will acknowledge select faculty and staff accomplishments.

Quammen, the author of the common reading, The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution,, will discuss "Charles Darwin Against Himself: Caution Versus Honesty in the Life of a Reluctant Revolutionary."

Newsweek recently called Quammen's book, "probably the most accessible intellectual biography of Darwin available."

Charles Darwin was born in 1809, making 2009 the 200th anniversary of his birth. In addition, 2009 is the 150th anniversary of the publication of his influential book, On the Origin of Species.

The common reading program, which was implemented in 2002 for incoming first-year students, serves as a basis for programs and discussions beginning at orientation and continuing through the fall semester.

For more information contact Susan Griffith, 216.368.1004.

Archaeological team find themselves in the middle of fight between Georgia and Russia

Three students and one faculty member from Case Western Reserve University are safe after finding themselves in the middle of the armed conflict between Russia and Georgia.

Andrea De Giorgi, visiting assistant professor in the Department of Classics; Nathan Bensing, sophomore from Columbus, Ohio; Gabriel Suprise, sophomore from Portage, Mich.; and Danielle Maynard, art history graduate student from Detroit, are now safe in Turkey. They plan to return to the university by August 24 in time for fall classes.

De Giorgi's group was based in Tbilisi in southeast Georgia, where they conducted a landscape archaeology survey tracing the interactions between human agency and the environment through the ages. The survey combined fieldwalking, data collection, global positioning system (GPS) recording and geographic information system (GIS) processing in an area inhabited by civilizations spanning the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, the Greek, Persian and Roman empires and various kingdoms of the Byzantine empire.

On the third day of fieldwork, the team saw columns of military convoys heading north on a nearby military road. Shortly after, the team's Georgian colleague, Mikheil Abramishvili, professor at the Tbilisi Archaeology Museum, received a call that the Russian army was active in the northern region of Georgia.

Back at their hotel, reports from the BBC and CNN provided confusing details of the Russian invasion. Events escalated overnight and in the morning, bags and equipment packed, the team traveled to the bus station and boarded a van headed to the city of Akhaltsikhe, the nearest point to cross into Turkey.

The van first headed northwest to the city of Gori, not knowing that the city was to be the target of a Russian airstrike. Arriving just after the bombing, the team found themselves surrounded by smoke and debris. Amid the confusion, terrified residents tried to stop the van in order to flee the city.

The van was already loaded to capacity and the driver began driving at what De Giorgi described as "insane speed" to get out of the city.

"We are still coming to terms with the sight of Gori's civilians," said De Giorgi. "One often hears about civilians paying the highest price in armed conflict, but experiencing it first-hand is a completely different thing. It was heartbreaking to see people begging our driver to stop for them."

The escape route took the van across the path of a line of armed Georgian tanks heading north.

The trip over the remaining 30 kilometers to Akhaltsikhe was uneventful. Hiring a cab, the team reached the Georgian side of the border with Turkey. Once they passed through security, they carried their bags and equipment by foot across the border where they hired a driver to take them 100 kilometers southeast to the town of Kars.

Once the College of Arts and Sciences was made aware of the situation, Dean Cyrus Taylor immediately offered to help the group make travel arrangements for their safe return to the United States.

Now based in the city of Ankara, De Giorgi's team is planning to utilize the remaining time abroad to visit archaeology sites and monuments in and around Ankara and Istanbul. The three days spent in Georgia resulted in the collection of a substantial amount of data, said De Giorgi.

"The success of those three days of surveying is grounded in Nathan, Gabriel and Danielle really grasping the purpose of our research," De Giorgi said. "They are really remarkable students. What we all experienced is going to stay with us for a very long time."

For more information contact Susan Griffith, 216.368.1004.

Fulbright scholar Pete Moore to take entire family to Dubai

Pete Moore, an associate professor of political science at Case Western Reserve University, left with his family last week for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on a Fulbright lecture and research grant, which ends June 2009. During his stay, Moore will be teaching at the Dubai campus of Zayed University, an all-female UAE public university. He also will be doing additional research for his book in progress on the political economy of the war in Iraq.

Moore also will be one of the few Fulbright recipients from the United States to take the whole family along for his year-long stay.

"My wife and I thought it would be a great learning experience for our three sons," said Moore, the father of a nine-year old and twin seven-year olds. "We are currently looking at a couple of American-style schools in the area. It will be an incredible life experience for all of us."

For his book, Moore will be working with companies and individuals who have done business in Iraq since 2003. The idea for the book came to Moore while in Jordan in 2004 when he saw first-hand that there was quite a bit of trading going on between Jordan and Iraq.

"It struck me that lots of wars—particularly in the Middle East—are supported by the pursuit of making money," he said. "Quite often the control of imported consumer goods is monopolized by small political factions, making it tough to get the goods out in the hands of the general population. There are many tragic trading parallels in Middle Eastern civil war, particularly in Lebanon between 1975 and 1989 and in Algeria during the 1990s."

Although Moore won't be going to Iraq, he feels that the UAE offers unique research opportunities.

"The UAE is the business hub of the Gulf region and is an area with a great variety of people and cultures for me to tap into," Moore said.

Moore is still working out the details of the course he will be teaching, but says it will deal with how the United States views and interacts with the Middle East.

"Less than 10 percent of Dubai's residents are UAE citizens," Moore said. "The rest of the population is made up of expatriates from many countries. Sharing the United States' cultural and political views of the Middle East with a group this diverse should quite interesting."

Moore expects his teaching and research experiences in the UAE to greatly enrich the scope of his teaching at Case Western Reserve upon his return.

For more information contact Susan Griffith, 216.368.1004.

Case Western Reserve University President Barbara Snyder announced Friday that the Board of Trustees have approved her appointment of William A. "Bud" Baeslack III as Provost and Executive Vice President, effective October 1, 2008. Baeslack comes to Case Western Reserve from The Ohio State University, where he served as dean of the College of Engineering and Executive Dean of the Professional Colleges.

"Bud Baeslack is a proven academic leader who knows how to advance strategic priorities," President Snyder said. "I am thrilled by the opportunity to work with him again and grateful to the search committee for bringing such an outstanding candidate to our university."

Baeslack, a native of greater Cleveland, earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from Ohio State, and went on to earn a doctorate in materials engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He spent 17 years at Ohio State, serving as a faculty member, department chair, associate dean and interim university vice president of research before becoming dean of engineering at RPI in 1999. He returned to Ohio State in 2004, recruited by a team that included Snyder, then Ohio State's interim provost.

"Ohio State is a special place, but I could not resist the opportunity to partner with Barbara to lead Case Western Reserve," Baeslack said. "I look forward to working with faculty, staff and students to execute the ambitious strategic plan the community developed over the past academic year."

A 12-member search committee reviewed dozens of candidates before ultimately recommending Baeslack to President Snyder. The committee, which included eight faculty members, held several community forums last spring to learn the qualities and skills constituents hoped to see in a new provost. Based on that feedback and their own perspective, the group developed a position description that emphasized experience in implementing strategic plans, encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration and managing budgets responsibly. The committee also sought a candidate with a commitment to transparency, communication and shared governance with faculty.

"In Bud Baeslack, the committee found a leader who met all of our criteria and more," said search committee chair P. Hunter Peckham, a professor of biomedical engineering. "Not only does he have a breadth of experience directly relevant to our university's current needs, but he also possesses the character and compassion that inspires others to perform their best."

As engineering dean at Ohio State, Baeslack led development of a performance plan for the college that resulted in increasing undergraduate enrollment, growth in research support and improved national rankings. At the same time, the College launched an innovative undergraduate engineering initiative, improved diversity among faculty and administrators and created several new interdisciplinary research centers.

Baeslack also participated in the development and implementation of a strategic plan at RPI, in which the school identified key priorities for interdisciplinary research. Baeslack helped recruit nearly 20 new faculty in such areas as Biotechnology, Nanotechnology/Advanced Materials and Information Systems. Over a four-year period the number of women who were tenured or tenure track grew by 70 percent, and the number of Hispanic and African-American tenured or tenure-track faculty also increased significantly.

At both Ohio State and RPI Baeslack was well-known for his success in developing partnerships with industry and government. Honda of America, for example, maintains a robust partnership with engineering at Ohio State that includes funding to promote awareness of engineering among high school students, especially women and underrepresented minorities, as well as scholarships and other programs to support new curricular initiatives.

Baeslack will succeed Interim Provost Jerry Goldberg, Dean of the School of Dental Medicine and a member of the university faculty since 1974. In addition to his regular provost duties, Goldberg last year led the campus community in development of a strategic plan for the university as well as individual plans for its constituent schools.

"We all owe Jerry Goldberg a debt of gratitude," President Snyder said. "His dedicated service has laid important groundwork that Bud will be able to build upon in the years to come."

The executive search firm Spencer Stuart assisted the committee in this process.

About William A. "Bud" Baeslack III

Education:

• B.S., Welding Engineering, The Ohio State University, 1973
• M.S., Welding Engineering, The Ohio State University, 1974
• Ph.D. Materials Engineering, Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1978

Leadership Positions:

• Executive Dean for the Professional Colleges, Ohio State, 2007-present
• Dean, College of Engineering, Ohio State, 2004-present
• Dean, School of Engineering, RPI, 1999-2004
• Interim Vice President for Research, Ohio State, 1998-1999
• President, OHIO STATE Research Foundation, 1998-1999
• Associate Dean for Research and College Development, College of Engineering, Ohio State, 1994-1998
• Chair, Department of Welding Engineering, Ohio State,1991-1994

Personal:

• Born, August 29, 1951, Cleveland, Ohio
• Married to Michelle Longley Baeslack, four children
• Activities: Golf/Reading (British history and biographies)

For more information contact Laura M. Massie, 216.368.4442.

Book connects local history to Vatican exhibit at Western Reserve Historical Society

To coincide with the "Vatican Splendors" exhibit currently on display at the Western Reserve Historical Society, John Grabowski has written a companion book entitled There Are No Strangers at the Feast: Catholicism and Community in Northeastern Ohio (Western Reserve Historical Society).

The Historical Society is sponsoring the exhibit because it recognized the broad cultural links the iconography of Catholicism has to the region. While the exhibit provides a broad overview of Catholicism, Grabowski, the Krieger-Mueller Associate Professor of Applied History at Case Western Reserve University and Krieger-Mueller historian at the Historical Society, wrote the book to provide a concise and clear picture of its local history and its impact on northeastern Ohio.

The book examines the early distrust between the well-established Protestants and the fledgling Catholic population which enjoyed explosive growth during the mass immigration from Europe of the 19th and early 20th Centuries. It also provides an account of how the Catholic Church in northeast Ohio successfully became a vital part of the community and how its embrace of stewardship of people and culture, particularly as Cleveland's ethnic and racial demographic changed in the last half-century, has made it one of the area's largest providers of educational and social service programs.

Rather than write an institutional history of the religion, told bishop-by-bishop over the decades, Grabowski chose to open and close the narrative with a look at the Feast of the Assumption, a four-day traditional Catholic celebration held every August in Cleveland's Little Italy neighborhood.

"The feast is a remarkable event," says Grabowski. "It holds great religious significance for area Catholics, but over the years has become a cultural event for the entire region. It's one of the city's great marketing draws."

The fact that Catholics and the rest of the northeastern Ohio population have adjusted to each other and now work and coexist side by side should be seen as an example for all of us as we enter a phase of further diversification with increasing numbers of Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and other groups, says Grabowski.

While the book is currently for sale at the Historical Society, Grabowski hopes to make it available in area bookstores as well as at this year's Feast of the Assumption in August.

Grabowski has written and edited a number of other books on Cleveland, including Cleveland Then and Now (Thunder Bay Press, 2002) with his wife Diane Ewart Grabowski; Cleveland, a History in Motion: Transportation, Industry and Commerce in Northeast Ohio (Heritage Media, 2000) and The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History (Indiana University Press, 1996) with David D. Van Tassel.

For more information contact Susan Griffith, 216.368.1004.