Entries in "Faculty"
RSS Feed
January 09, 2007
Do startups really need formal business plans?
The Wall Street Journal online, January 9, 2007 (subscription required)
Business schools and consultants have long preached that writing a formal business plan greatly improves a startup's odds of success. But a growing number of academics are questioning whether that's really the case. Scott Shane, a professor at Case Western Reserve University, says most studies that discount business planning are flawed because they don't correct for business failure rates, only accounting for businesses that survived. Read article.
Everson says it's sticking with Pollock
The Syracuse Post Standard, January 9, 2007
As controversy swirls over the authenticity of a group of paintings by dribble-and-drip master Jackson Pollock, the Everson Museum of Art is staying with its plan to exhibit the works this summer. Ellen Landau, a Pollock expert and professor at Case Western Reserve University, is among those who say the pieces should be considered originals. Read article.
Adult stem cells spur market rush, avoid embryo ban
Bloomberg News, January 9, 2007
Five-month-old Luis Fernando Rojo was near death in a Miami hospital, suffering with blisters and bloody diarrhea after his tiny body rejected part of a marrow transplant for a rare bone disorder. So U.S. regulators allowed Luis's doctors to try an unapproved therapy from Baltimore-based Osiris Therapeutics Inc. Osiris, which first sold shares to the public on August 4, was founded in 1992 using technology developed by Arnold Caplan, a stem cell researcher at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Read article.
January 04, 2007
Weatherhead gets $2.4M in gifts
Crain's Cleveland Business, January 4, 2007
Fairmount Minerals Ltd. of Chardon has made two gifts totaling $2.4 million to the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University to bolster the school's Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit. "The principals and managers at Fairmount Minerals have supported Weatherhead for more than 20 years. We are delighted that they have chosen to permanently associate their name with our school," said Mohan Reddy, dean of the management school, in a statement. Read article.
January 03, 2007
Coach told not to pay medical bills of victim
The Plain Dealer, January 3, 2007
A youth-baseball coach convicted of assaulting a concession worker who later died does not have to pay nearly $20,000 in medical bills because they were related to keeping Robert Abrams alive, not to the assault. A law professor believes restitution is warranted. "I think there is a clear causal connection," said Case Western Reserve University professor Lewis Katz. "It seems to me that all the expenses flowed from the crime he was convicted of." Read article.
Our Top 20 stories from Earth to Pluto
Columbus Dispatch, January 2, 2007
Science produced headlines in 2006: The public and politicians, shocked by high gasoline prices, rediscovered alternative energy during the spring and summer. "We've been ignoring alternative energy for so long, bioethanol, and wind energy is becoming quietly competitive," said Tom Zawodzinski, a fuel cell researcher at Case Western Reserve University. Later in the article, Dan Akerib, a physicist and dark-matter researcher at Case, is quoted on the topic of dark matter, which is considered to be the glue of the universe. Read article.
Even as bookstores close, readers flock to writers
The Plain Dealer, December 31, 2006
Americans, especially young adults, are reading less. In the early 1990s, the United States boasted some 4,500 independent bookstores. There are only 1,800 today. In a more literary vein, Case Western Reserve University's Thrity Umrigar mined her Mumbai, India, childhood to write an evocative novel, "The Space Between Us," about an upper-class woman and her domestic servant. Read article.
December 22, 2006
Reddy takes Weatherhead job permanently
Crain's Cleveland Business, December 21, 2006
Case Western Reserve University has taken the "interim" off Mohan Reddy's dean title at the Weatherhead School of Management. The university announced that Reddy has been named permanent dean at the business school, succeeding Myron Roomkin, who stepped down last August 1. Reddy was named interim dean last August 10. Read article.
Holidays and children with ADHD: Tips to help parents cope
Star Beacon, December 20, 2006
It's a given: During the holidays, the youngsters are going to be more distracted, more fidgety, than normal. But for a child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the natural excitement of the holidays combined with their response can transform the family dinner, gift exchange or worship service into a tortuous, tumultuous experience. "Putting the brakes on these kids can be really hard during the holidays," says Robert Findling, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University and director of child and adolescent psychiatry at University Hospitals of Cleveland. Read article.
December 21, 2006
Feline healer visits shelter
News-Herald, December 17, 2006
Cats have chakras, or points of energy. At least, they do if you ask Elaine Gallovic, a registered nurse and provider of craniosacral therapy and healing touch for pets. Gallovic, a longtime volunteer for the Geauga Humane Society in Russell Township, shared her touch-centered philosophy with more than two dozen volunteers and cat lovers last Wednesday, in a demonstration on healing, soothing, and "full-body energy balancing" for pets. Brenda Donohue from Shaker Heights was an observer. "I work at Case Western Reserve University in the bioethics department, so human and animal interaction is very interesting to me." Read article.
December 20, 2006
Research knows no holiday
Columbus Dispatch, December 19, 2006
Many scientists who work at academic centers must squeeze their field research into a couple of months during the summer and several weeks between the end of fall classes and the beginning of winter classes. That often means working through Christmas and New Year's, and leaving loved ones behind for work. Ralph Harvey, a geologist at Case Western Reserve University, has spent 16 Christmases in Antarctica, scouring the continent for meteorites. Read article.
A moral test for fighting terror
Baltimore Sun, December 19, 2006
Op-ed by Amos Guiora, director of the Institute for Global Security Law and Policy at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Last week, the Israel Supreme Court rendered one of its most anticipated and important judicial rulings with respect to counterterrorism fighting terrorism. The case concerns Israel's policy of preventive strikes against known terrorists in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Starting in February 2000, with the beginning of the second intifada, Israel's policy of "targeted killings" resulted in the deaths of close to 300 known terrorists through the end of 2005. However, more than 30 attempts failed during that time, and approximately 150 civilians were killed. Hundreds of other civilians were wounded. Read article.
December 19, 2006
Lawmakers grapple with will of the people
Canton Repository, December 18, 2006
Last week, the hot-button topic at the Statehouse was not minimum wage or gun control. It was the people's will. Gov. Bob Taft issued the most significant veto of his tenure in an effort to protect local gun laws, and a university poll showed 56 percent of voters were on his side. Then the Legislature overrode his veto. Joseph White of Cleveland's Case Western Reserve University said voters should not be surprised, however, when lawmakers defy majority opinion—or even the majority opinion within their own party. Read article.
Latest editions
BBC World Service, December 14, 2006
A radio link features Amos Guiora, law professor and director of the Institute for Global Security Law and Policy at Case Western Reserve Univesity. Guiora, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Israeli defense forces, spoke with the BBC about the recent Supreme Court ruling on so-called "targeted killings." Read article.
Teen tummies trimmed
WNYC, December 18, 2006
As the national waistline grows larger, more people are choosing to make their stomachs smaller. They're undergoing bariatric surgery, a category of various operations to reduce the size of the stomach or bypass it entirely. People feel full faster, eat less, and take on fewer calories. A growing proportion of these patients are teenagers. Nutritional expert Paul Ernsberger doesn't think that's a good enough reason to go under the knife. The Case Western Reserve University medical school professor thinks the risks are too high for people to think of obesity surgery like they would breast implants or liposuction. Read article.
Pollock paintings not so easy to spot
San Francisco Chronicle, December 18, 2006
Finding a Jackson Pollock painting is the art world's equivalent of a winning lottery ticket. But proving a Pollock painting's authenticity isn't easy, which is why physicist Richard Taylor's theory that the famed artist's work can be identified using fractals has stirred such interest and controversy. "I firmly believe his analysis is seriously flawed," said Kate Jones-Smith, a third-year doctoral student in physics at Case Western Reserve University. Read article.
December 18, 2006
Quick Takes: Case Western's new chief
Inside Higher Ed, December 18, 2006
Barbara R. Snyder, provost of Ohio State University, was named the next president of Case Western Reserve University. In an e-mail interview, Snyder said she was confident she could collaborate with professors. "An effective shared governance process is necessary for the university to achieve its goals," she said, adding that "nothing promotes trust more than being trustworthy." Read article.
Onetime Case prof is its new president
The Plain Dealer, December 16, 2006
The appointment of Barbara R. Snyder, the current provost at Ohio State University, as the new president of Case Western Reserve University is a homecoming of sorts for the esteemed administrator. Snyder, 51, began her academic career at Case's law school and credits her mentors there for believing in and supporting her and getting her "off to a great start." Now the job isn't teaching students to be lawyers but rather elevating the entire university's reputation. Read article.
Case appoints new president
Crain's Cleveland Business, December 15, 2006
Case Western Reserve University has hired its first female president in Barbara Snyder. Currently the executive vice president and provost at Ohio State University, Snyder will begin July 1, 2007, according to a December 15 letter to the community from Frank Linsalata, chairman of Case's board of trustees. "She is an articulate and energetic proponent for the integral role research universities play in determining the scientific, cultural and political future of our world," Linsalata said. Read article.
December 11, 2006
Case lecturer sees drop in GDP growth
Crain's Cleveland Business, December 11, 2006
Gross domestic product growth will slow and unemployment will rise, but the economy will remain in decent shape for 2007, according to an economic forecast by Sam Thomas, a senior lecturer in banking and finance at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. In an interview prior to delivering the 33rd annual David A. Bowers Economic Forecast on December 8, Thomas said he projects real GDP growth of 2.4 percent for 2007, down from 3.2 percent in 2006. Read article.
December 07, 2006
Super kids: Boost your baby's brain power
News 14 Carolina online, December 7, 2006
Get moving: Researchers from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland studied the children of 20 women who continued to exercise throughout pregnancy and 20 expectant moms who quit exercising. At 5 years old, the children born to the moms who exercised performed significantly better on tests of general intelligence and oral language skills. Read article.
December 05, 2006
Revamp of brain 'could slow CJD'
BBC News Online, December 4, 2006
Tests in mice with scrapie—a disease similar to CJD in humans and BSE in cattle—showed the life-extending treatment works. The method used by the German team involves molecules called special RNAs (siRNAs), Journal of Clinical Investigation reports. These shut down the production of proteins that go awry in prion disease. Qingzhong Kong, an expert in prion diseases at the Case Western Reserve University in the United States, said: "Much more research is needed before RNA interference can be harnessed to treat prion disease." Read article.
Theoreticians ponder why we exist: Scientists debate how anthropic reasoning predicts cosmological constant
MSNBC.com, December 4, 2006
The emergence of humans in the universe might not tell us anything concerning the fundamental constants of nature as scientists have speculated, new theoretical findings argue. The idea known as the anthropic principle states that human existence is possible only if fundamental constants such as the speed of light or the strength of gravity are not higher or lower than what is observed. However, theoretical physicist Glenn Starkman of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and cosmologist Roberto Trotta at Oxford University in England take issue with how anthropic reasoning predicts the cosmological constant. Read article.
Cities see death knell ringing on 'home rule'
The Plain Dealer, December 4, 2006
This year alone, the legislature has passed at least three bills that vaporized local laws in Cleveland and elsewhere. Another such bill is pending in the Senate. The way the legislature sees it, the so-called "home rule" provision of the Ohio Constitution—which lets cities pass local laws—is barely worth the paper on which it is printed. In passing bills encroaching on home rule, the legislature deems these items to be of statewide concern, which is reason enough to bypass the local power rule, said Case Western Reserve University law professor Jonathan Entin. Read article.
December 04, 2006
New moms and newborns need privacy, study shows
USA Today, December 3, 2006
Flowers are always nice, but perhaps the best gift you can give a brand-new mom is some quiet time alone with her baby. "I can remember when I first got into obstetrics, back in the late '70s, early '80s, fathers could stay on the floor all the time, and grandparents and siblings were the only ones who could come to visit," says lead author Barbara Morrison, an assistant professor of nursing at the Case Western Reserve University Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. Read article.
The case of Pollock's fractals focuses on physics
New York Times, December 2, 2006
In an article published this week in the prestigious science journal Nature, two physicists contend that a method intended to identify complex geometric patterns in the seemingly chaotic drip paintings of Jackson Pollock is flawed and may be useless in the increasingly convoluted world of authenticating Pollock's work. The article, written by a physics professor and a physics doctoral student at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, provides a new twist in the mystery surrounding a group of small drip paintings discovered several years ago in a storage locker in Wainscott, N.Y. In 2004, before the examination of the disputed paintings, a physics doctoral student at Case Western, Katherine Jones-Smith, became interested in Taylor's published reports about Pollock and fractals and made the research the subject of a presentation. Read article.
Just how precise is the balancing act that maintains life?
Wall Street Journal, December 1, 2006
If the laws of physics and the fundamental constants of nature were the slightest bit different, the world would not exist, at least in the form we see it. For years, many scientists viewed anthropic reasoning as "the last refuge of scoundrels," says cosmologist Lawrence Krauss of Case Western Reserve University. "It was what you resorted to when you couldn't think of other explanations. But science has always tried to explain why the universe is the way it is…" Read article. (subscription required)
November 30, 2006
A shrinking outlay for science
The Plain Dealer, November 30, 2006
Ruth Keri's growing anxiety about securing research dollars should matter to more than the handful of scientists who toil in her lab at Case Western Reserve University. Keri's story—recently detailed by Plain Dealer reporter Regina McEnery—is one of literally thousands of such tales across the country. Read article.
November 27, 2006
Sleep may be key to staying trim
The New Zealand Herald, November 25, 2006
Middle-aged women may be able to sleep their way to a trimmer body, new study findings suggest. In a study that followed more than 68,000 U.S. women for 16 years, researchers found that those who caught more zzz's each night tended to put on less weight during middle age. The findings, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology and presented this year at a medical conference, add to evidence that sleep habits affect a person's weight. Dr. Sanjay R. Patel of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland led the research. Read article.
November 22, 2006
Alzheimer's research makes dramatic shift to widen perspective
The Wall Street Journal online, November 17, 2006
For more than 20 years, the leading theory has held that sticky blobs in the brain called amyloid plaques cause Alzheimer's disease. But as I've written before, many scientists whose work challenges the amyloid dogma have been unable to publish in top journals, and their grant proposals, "go down in flames," as Mark Smith of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine told me. Read article (subscription required).
November 17, 2006
Palmer is coach of the year
The Plain Dealer, November 17, 2006
Case Western Reserve's Dan Palmer has been named the University Athletic Association men's soccer coach of the year after leading the Spartans to their first-ever UAA Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. Read article.
Try Thanksgiving takeout and let someone else cook
The Plain Dealer, November 15, 2006
How many will be at your house for Thanksgiving? Twenty? Thirty? That's a lot of turkey, not to mention all the fussy side dishes. With all the prep, that's a day or two in the kitchen to carve out of an already jammed schedule. Add to that, societal pressure for the chef, usually a woman, to produce the perfect meal. "It becomes a gendered performance," said Susan Hinze, a Case Western Reserve University sociology professor. Read article.
November 16, 2006
New test predicts best candidates for defibrillators
Forbes.com, November 16, 2006
A new, noninvasive test easily performed in a doctor's office may be able to predict which patients are at risk for sudden cardiac death and who would likely benefit from implanted defibrillators. "This trial suggests there's a way to individualize therapy for patients," said study senior author Dr. David S. Rosenbaum, professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Read article.
November 15, 2006
Think tank will promote thinking: advocates want science, not faith, at core of public policy
The Washington Post.com, November 15, 2006
A group of prominent scientists and advocates of strict church-state separation yesterday announced formation of a Washington think tank designed to promote "rationalism" as the basis of public policy. The small public policy office will lobby and sometimes litigate on behalf of science-based decision making and against religion in government affairs. Lawrence M. Krauss, an author and theoretical physicist at Case Western Reserve University, said the scientific community has done a "poor job" of explaining its logic and benefits to the public. Read article.
November 14, 2006
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine interim dean awarded highest honor for life-changing research
Genetic Engineering News, November 13, 2006
During the 20th annual North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference in Denver, Pamela Davis, M.D., Ph.D., Case School of Medicine interim dean, received the Paul di Sant'Agnese Award. The award is the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's highest honor for scientific research achievement and is given annually to the scientist who made the most significant strides in CF studies. Read article.
November 10, 2006
Gender was a crucial factor in women's election gains
The Plain Dealer, November 10, 2006
Column written by Karen Beckwith, Case Western Reserve University political science professor
The 2006 midterm elections have resulted in a record number of women being elected to the U.S. House and to the Senate. Because two-thirds of female congressional candidates were Democrats, women contributed mightily to the Democratic victory in the House. Women will constitute at least 16 percent of the 110th Congress, and the House of Representatives stands to select Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat of California, as the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history. Gender was crucial in the 2006 midterm elections in Ohio, but not in ways that might have advanced specific women's policy issues, such as equal pay, women's rights or reproductive issues. Read article.
BioLabs seeking defense contract
The Plain Dealer, November 10, 2006
Cleveland BioLabs Inc. is taking another step toward supplying the federal government with a drug that could protect the military from the ravages of a radiological attack. The technology was developed by Andrei Gudkov, chairman of the molecular biology department at the Cleveland Clinic, biochemistry professor at Case Western Reserve University and founder of and chief scientific officer of Cleveland BioLabs. Read article.
November 08, 2006
Sawyer easily defeats Fink
Akron Beacon Journal, November 8, 2006
Former Congressman and Akron Mayor Tom Sawyer handily defeated incumbent Deborah Owens Fink in the District 7 state school board race Tuesday. Sawyer was drafted to run by Help Ohio Public Education, formed by scientists critical of Fink's attempts to change the state science curriculum. The group's founders, Case Western Reserve University professors Patricia Princehouse and Lawrence Krauss, have contended that the changes were an effort to insert religion into the science curriculum. Read article.
Analysis: elections hold sway for health
United Press International, November 7, 2006
This Election Day voters are taking health to the ballot box through several state initiatives and their views on medical research, experts say. A series of midterm ballot initiatives on tobacco, reproduction and social determinants such as housing throughout the country may dramatically sway the direction of public health, said Dr. Georges Benjamin, director of the American Public Health Association. Yet some experts predict a troubled outlook for funding health initiatives, regardless of what party takes over. The "big clash" will come in trying to save money in the federal budget while also funding federal agencies such as NIH, said J.B. Silvers, a professor of health systems management at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Read article.
November 07, 2006
The campaign that never happened
Amherst Times, November 5, 2006 (column)
Autumn arrived: the leaves began to fall and the political signs sprouted up in people's yards. For a week or so there was excitement about the "tight" Senate race—a virtual tie according to some polls taken in September—but then abruptly Sherrod Brown, the Democratic challenger, seemed to leap into the lead, ahead by double digits in late October. I have to admit, I was a bit puzzled. Was it Ohio's economy and the war in Iraq? It certainly has begun to seem that our election system is in trouble. A 230-page report commissioned by Cuyahoga County on its May 2 primary fiasco was made public in late October, and revealed widespread concerns about the reliability of the AccuVote electronic voting machines. Similarly, Vicki Lovegren, a mathematics lecturer at Case Western Reserve University who has become a local advocate for election integrity, said, "If you're a computer scientist, you're nervous," adding: "When you have electronic voting machines, it doesn't take a conspiracy of many people. One person can affect the outcome without anyone knowing." Read article.
November 06, 2006
Attorney claims illegal Medina County jury selection
The Plain Dealer, November 4, 2006
A defense attorney claims Medina County court officials have not followed state laws that dictate how jurors should be selected. Defense attorney Robert Schultz alleges "wholesale violations of the Ohio jury code" that he says warrant a dismissal of every criminal indictment this year as well as any civil or criminal jury verdicts. That kind of sanction could leave the county vulnerable to hundreds of lawsuits and reopen countless court cases. Two Case Western Reserve University law professors don't think the allegations call for such drastic measures, but they say that, if Schultz's claims are true, court authorities might have a little housekeeping to do. Case law professor Robert Lawry had a similar opinion. His colleague, professor Lewis Katz, agrees. Read article.
Orthopedic boom continues
Crain's Cleveland Business, November 6, 2006
There's no need to sit around with achy joints when surgery can fix it. That's the mindset of many Americans today, and one that's prompting hospitals to cash in on the popularity of orthopedic surgery. "We're seeing a huge increase in people around the country who want orthopedic surgery," said Randall Marcus, Charles H. Herndon professor and chairman of orthopedics at Case Western Reserve University. Read article (subscription required).
Hussein trial was flawed but reasonably fair, and verdict was justified, legal experts say
New York Times, November 6, 2006
The yearlong trial that ended yesterday with a sentence of death by hanging for Saddam Hussein had serious legal flaws that left doubts about whether he was allowed to present a full defense, international legal experts said. But even critics of the trial said the five Iraqi judges who heard the case had made a reasonable effort to conduct a fair trial in the face of sustained pressure from Iraqi political leaders for a swift death sentence. However, several American criminal lawyers said the prosecution marshaled surprisingly convincing documents, including those showing Mr. Hussein's signature on orders of execution. "Saddam was convicted on the strength of his own documents," said Michael Scharf, a professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law who advised the Iraqi tribunal during the trial. Read article.