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January 26, 2007
Screen gems
The Plain Dealer, January 26, 2007
Seeing Billy Wilder's films on the big screen is a rare thrill, and you'll have a chance Monday night at 7 when the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque presents a restored 35 mm print of Sunset Boulevard. As a bonus, movie historian and author Lou Giannetti will introduce the film and host a chat session afterwards. What keeps him jazzed about seeing a movie released 57 years ago? "It's still a great film. You look at it and realize how fresh it is," said Giannetti, a former professor of English and film at Case Western Reserve University and author of Understanding Movies. Read article.
Diagnosis: boomeritis: Sports injuries are tripping up middle-agers
The Plain Dealer, January 25, 2007
When 59-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger fell on the ski slopes last month, the snap of his breaking femur joined a sort of sad symphony. Same with the thud of 60-year-old President Bush falling face first off his mountain bike. "In their mind, they would like to be just as fit as they were when they were younger," said Julie Glodich, fitness supervisor at Case Western Reserve University's 1-2-1 Fitness Center. "Or be 'the hot grandma.' " Read article.
January 25, 2007
Coshocton kids score some cash
The Plain Dealer, January 25, 2007 (editorial)
It's one thing to reward high-achieving students with a pizza party or a movie, but quite another to give them cold, hard cash. Or is it? Robert E. Simpson, a local businessman, launched the effort after reading about a project in Kenya that paid students for good marks. He donated $100,000 and persuaded dubious school staff to give it a try. Meanwhile, Case Western Reserve University economics Professor Eric Bettinger came on board to design a formal research model to measure the impact of the cash awards. Read article.
Who really cares about black teens?
The Plain Dealer, January 25, 2007 (column)
Study after study, the evidence is clear: Black youths are overrepresented in every stage of the juvenile justice system. In fact, as more and more black children are taken from their homes and locked up in kiddie prisons, the problem grows worse—not better. The public becomes increasingly frightened by highly publicized and politicized images of black kids—especially black boys. The statistics bear evidence to support this misdirected view. For example, a 2002 study by the Center on Urban Poverty and Social Change at Case Western Reserve University found that black youths in Cuyahoga County are more than twice as likely to be charged with a felony drug offense than are white youths (70 percent versus 32 percent). Read article.
January 24, 2007
Military judge orders modest bail for Damra
The Plain Dealer, January 24, 2007
Fawaz Damra, the former spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, was ordered released from an Israeli prison on modest bail Tuesday. However, Israeli authorities exercised a right to delay the release to give them 72 hours to decide whether to appeal the judge's decision. Damra remained in prison in northern Israel, but maybe not for long. "These things are decided pretty quickly, particularly in light of the fact he's been ordered released," said Amos Guiora, a Case Western Reserve University law professor and once a judge on Israel's military court. Read article.
January 04, 2007
Weatherhead receives $2.4 million donation
The Plain Dealer, January 4, 2007
"There's no I in Sand," announces the Web site of Fairmount Minerals, a Chardon, Ohio-based company whose sand is sold by Toys "R" Us for sandboxes and is turned into glass for the Ford Motor Co. That philosophy—keyed to environmental and social responsibility—motivated the company's $2.4 million gift to the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. 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.
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
Case retains its interim at school of business
The Plain Dealer, December 22, 2006
Case Western Reserve University on Thursday named N. Mohan Reddy dean of its Weatherhead School of Management. Reddy had been interim dean since August 1, when Myron Roomkin stepped down after two years. Reddy's leadership over the past few months apparently won over faculty members at the school that has experienced instability in leadership over the past eight years. "We are pleased to be able to continue to draw from Mohan Reddy's insight and leadership in continuing to advance the Weatherhead School of Management," said John L. Anderson, provost and university vice president. Read article.
Cleveland Heights to try wireless in '07
The Plain Dealer, December 22, 2006
Cleveland Heights -- A city that many cherish as eclectic will seek to strengthen its allure by adding wireless Internet access to the mix. The nonprofit OneCleveland will provide free service to users in the Mayfield, Coventry and Cedar Road corridors under an 18-month deal with the city. If the trial is a success, service could be extended throughout Cleveland Heights, city Law Director John Gibbon said. The city will contribute up to $20,000 to the project, which may cost $150,000 to $200,000, said Mark Ansboury of OneCleveland. Case Western Reserve University, which has many teachers and students who live in Cleveland Heights, will help with the balance, Ansboury said. Read article.
Case commuters love open bridge
The Plain Dealer, December 22, 2006
The Adelbert Road bridge near Case Western Reserve University might as well have been wrapped in shiny paper, tied with a bow and stamped "Do Not Open Until Christmas." For thousands of commuters, University Hospitals employees and Case students and faculty who have battled detour congestion twice a day for nearly two years, the bridge's reopening Thursday was like an early Christmas gift from the city of Cleveland. Read article.
December 18, 2006
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.
December 11, 2006
Study finds risk of getting HIV not raised by birth control pills
The Plain Dealer, December 9, 2006
Birth control pills and other forms of hormonal contraception do not elevate a woman's risk of contracting HIV, according to a large international study that included work by Case Western Reserve University. The findings were published Thursday in the online edition of the journal AIDS and will appear in the January printed edition. Read article.
December 08, 2006
Asian concern buying Hoover
The Plain Dealer, December 8, 2006
An emerging global corporation based in Hong Kong announced Thursday that it was adding long-suffering Hoover Co. to its list of international power-tool and appliance brand names. Techtronic Industries Co. said it will pay $107 million in cash along with "certain assumed obligations" for the iconic vacuum cleaner maker, whose home has been in North Canton since its founding in 1908. Susan Helper, a professor at Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management, said that although production labor is cheaper abroad, TTI might find value in keeping it in Ohio,"close to its market in the United States." Read article.
December 05, 2006
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.
November 30, 2006
Case researchers say artwork analysis flawed
The Plain Dealer, November 30, 2006
A Case Western Reserve University physics student and her colleague have added a new twist to a nasty feud about whether a group of recently discovered paintings is the work of renowned artist Jackson Pollock. The Case research, published today in the prestigious journal Nature, casts doubt on a method a fellow scientist had used to suggest that the paintings weren't real Pollocks. Read article.
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
Search for cure means chase for funding: Breast cancer research part lab, part grant work
The Plain Dealer, November 27, 2006
Ruth Keri inched forward with the crush of runners in the annual Race for the Cure. Like the others, she is fighting for a cure for breast cancer one painstaking step at a time. Keri is a cancer biologist, a laboratory scientist at Case Western Reserve University who studies an aggressive form of breast cancer. At 43, she is a rising star in breast cancer research who also is elbow to elbow with young scientists in the high-stakes race for grants that fuel their work. Read article.
Science slippage in city's schools
The Plain Dealer, November 26, 2006
Cleveland already ranks last among Ohio school districts on this year's state report cards, so it should come as little surprise that it also trailed urban peers on a national measure of science skills. What counts as news is that the district has taken steps to improve its dismal ranking, joining forces with Case Western Reserve University to bring extra training to teachers. Read article.
'Case' just can't describe Western Reserve
The Plain Dealer, November 25, 2006 (Letter to the editor)
I am an alumna of Western Reserve University, class of 1956, on my annual visit to Northeast Ohio to see my family. Each year, I am angered when I see stories in the Plain Dealer, or elsewhere, referring to my alma mater as "Case." Read article.
Case senior teaches other students about joys of living in Cleveland
The Plain Dealer, November 24, 2006
Jeffrey T. Verespej is much, much busier than you, but he still finds time for a nightlife. The 21-year-old senior at Case Western Reserve University is majoring in pre-law with minors in political science and German studies. The former football player still finds time to act as a campus tour guide and appear in plays. Read article.
November 22, 2006
University Circle exploring service assessment: Fee could cover police, maintenance
The Plain Dealer, November 21, 2006
Faced with rapid growth, University Circle leaders will study new ways to fund safety and cleanup efforts in Cleveland's medical, cultural and educational mecca. University Circle institutions, including University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University, pay voluntary assessments now that fund a $2.3 million annual budget for police. Read article.
November 21, 2006
Cyber-strikers ask: which site are you on?
The Plain Dealer, November 21, 2006
Northeast Ohio is in the thick of two significant labor actions, a nationwide United Steelworkers strike against Akron-based Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. and United Auto Workers Local 1050's strike against Alcoa Inc.'s Cleveland Works. In both, digital communication is playing a bigger role in the conflicts than labor experts have seen in the past. "Perspective is the right word," said Paul Gerhart, economist and professor at Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Business. "These sites do function as bulletin boards for striking union members, the company employees and shareholders, and others, too." Read article.
November 20, 2006
Ohio must keep making things
The Plain Dealer, November 19, 2006 (editorial)
When people talk about the economic glory days of Ohio, and especially its northeast quadrant, they invariably speak of this region's once-unsurpassed ability to "make things." Unfortunately, many of the industries that made this region wealthy have grown old. Understand that the recent flurry of fuel cell activity did not come out of the ether. It builds upon groundbreaking work that began years ago at the NASA Glenn Research Center and has continued there and at universities including Case Western Reserve University. Entrepreneurs used that research to start companies that are now attracting outside interest. Read article.
University Circle open to suggestions
The Plain Dealer, November 20, 2006
University Circle, the arts-and-medicine district criticized for its closed-door planning, is ready for public scrutiny of its fast-growth future. The Cleveland Planning Commission recommended Friday that the city create a design-review body to oversee building in the one-square-mile neighborhood. Institutions, including Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals, are ready for the change as hundreds of millions of dollars in projects roll off the drawing board, said Chris Ronayne, executive director of University Circle, Inc., a nonprofit that handles parking, policing and planning. Read article.
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.
Reinventing Ohio
The Plain Dealer, November 16, 2006
If necessity is the mother of invention, a recent trend in patents could bode well for Ohio's struggling economy. Ned Hill, vice president for economic development at Cleveland State University, said patents are on the rise because the quality of research at Case Western Reserve University and Ohio State University "has just gotten a lot better in the last decade, and they're paying more attention to patents." 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
City schools failing in science
The Plain Dealer, November 16, 2006
Among 10 major American cities, Cleveland had the smallest percentage of fourth- and eighth-graders proficient in science, according to 2005 test data released today by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Since 2002, the district has been in a partnership with Case Western Reserve University that provides intensive training for math and science teachers. Read article.
November 15, 2006
Six projects get NorTech money: $1 million will help turn technology ideas into moneymakers
The Plain Dealer, November 15, 2006
NorTech, the Northeast Ohio technology development organization, has distributed $1 million in grant money from the Fund for Our Economic Future to support the commercialization of six projects: A collaboration among the National Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, the Case Center for Imaging Research, and local companies Arteriocyte and Athersys will receive $310,000 to develop ways to improve stroke therapies. The Wright Fuel Cell Group will receive $150,000 to build portable fuel cells created with Ohio-made products. Case Western Reserve University, Graf-Tech, HydroGen, Contained Energy, Northeast Hydrogen and Chemsultants are part of the fuel cell group. Read article.
November 14, 2006
Income gap between races persists, census says
The Plain Dealer, November 14, 2006
Washington—Decades after the civil rights movement, racial disparities in income, education and home ownership persist and, by some measurements, are growing. And for Northeast Ohio, those gaps are even more pronounced than the national figures. The report showed two bright spots. Compared with the national averages, Hispanics in Northeast Ohio were more likely to own a home and earn a bachelor's or graduate degree. The area's high rate of racial segregation likely plays a key role in economic and educational disparities, said Claudia Coulton, codirector of the Center on Urban Poverty and Social Change at Case Western Reserve University. "When there's more segregation, it usually cuts down on opportunities," she said. Read article.
November 13, 2006
Ohio's now a leader in fuel cells
The Plain Dealer, November 12, 2006
UltraCell Corp. of Livermore, Calif., plans to invest $74 million to build a factory near Dayton that will hire 360 people over the next four years and create more jobs for Ohio-based suppliers. The project has received grants, loans and tax breaks. The company is working with the University of Dayton and Case Western Reserve University. Read article.
Researchers relinking brain, paralyzed limbs
The Plain Dealer, November 12, 2006
In a sunny Case Western Reserve University lab, the 49-year-old Emma Freeman eases her wheelchair to an array of video screens. One displays the ghostly image of a disembodied right arm and hand, hanging motionless against a black background. A cable snakes from underneath her shirt, connecting Emma to the computer. Functional electrical stimulation (FES), the technology driving Emma's arm, is not new. Scientists at the Cleveland FES Center, a consortium of Case, MetroHealth Medical Center and the Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, have used various forms of stimulation to trigger muscles involved in bowel and bladder control, hand grasping and sitting upright. Read article.
Case reaches the next level
The Plain Dealer, November 12, 2006
Two first-half goals held up as the Case Western Reserve men's soccer team defeated Denison, 2-0, Saturday at Case Field to reach the sectionals of the NCAA Division III Tournament. 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.
Strings attached
The Plain Dealer, November 9, 2006
Take a fine violinist. Connect electrodes to her fingers, arms and shoulders. Have her play classical pieces. Record her muscle activity and transmit the readings to a laptop. "The higher the peaks and the faster the frequency, the more the muscles are working," said Katie Polafek, graduate research assistant at the Cleveland Functional Electrical Stimulation Center. The project's coolness extends from the Cavani and FES Center—a research consortium of the Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, MetroHealth Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University—to CleveMed, which develops wireless monitoring systems for neurology and rehabilitation applications. 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 09, 2006
What now?
The Plain Dealer, November 9, 2006
Democrats control the U.S. House—and may take the Senate as well. They bring with them an agenda that affects executives and managers, consumers and workers. Foreign trade: Not-so-fast track: We may say bye-bye to the "fast track" authority for the president's trade agreements. The authority, up for renewal next year, requires Congress to vote on trade treaties without making amendments. John Soper, economics professor at John Carroll University, worries that ending fast track will make each treaty subject to endless rounds of renegotiation. But Susan Helper, economics professor at Case Western Reserve University, says it would encourage a fuller debate. Read article.
November 07, 2006
Nonprofit program moves to Case site
The Plain Dealer, November 7, 2006
A program aimed at educating leaders of nonprofit organizations is getting a new home on the campus of Case Western Reserve University. The Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations is scheduled to move next year from rented space in the basement of the Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center on Euclid Avenue to a two-story structure being built on Bellflower Road, just east of Hessler Court. The new building will provide an environment that fosters creative thinking and scholarly exchanges, the essence of an academic center, according to Susan Lajoie Eagan, the center's executive director. Read article.
They Love (column)
The Plain Dealer, November 5, 2006
Interviewed: Creg Jantz, sports information director and assistant athletic director, Case Western Reserve University
Most embarrassing thing in your CD collection? "Merry Christmas—Mariah Carey." Sorry if that puts a damper on the upcoming holiday season.
First song you're singing on karaoke night? "Roadhouse Blues" by the Doors.
Headline on your obituary? Creg Jantz dead—what a drag!
Movies you've walked out of? "The English Patient." Brutal!
If you went to hell, what song would be played over and over? "1999" by Prince... 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.
'Star Trek' inspires Case speech therapy
The Plain Dealer, November 4, 2006
Think Wizard of Oz on board the Starship Enterprise. As an unseen force behind a curtain calls the shots, a virtual reality "holodeck" transports its users to a fast-food restaurant and beyond. The woman behind the curtain—and the concept—is Stacy Williams, an assistant professor of communication sciences at Case Western Reserve University. And the idea she has championed for almost a decade, inspired by the reality simulator of "Star Trek" fame, is about to go into use at the Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center. Read article.
November 03, 2006
Case leader's so-called stress was pure invention
The Plain Dealer, November 3, 2006 (Letter to Editor)
By Gregory L. Eastwood, Case interim president
I write to express my strong concern and embarrassment about the portion of Bill Lubinger's October 23 article "Bust this stress" that had to do with me. In that article, Lubinger said that my stress mess was "Cleaning up after Ed Hundert." Although his disclaimer indicated, "Here's Cleveland's current Best Stressed List and our view on how they cope," many people have written to me or spoken to me, thinking that I was the originator of that comment about Dr. Hundert. Read article.
Case acting program draws rave reviews
The Plain Dealer, November 3, 2006
This summer, six students from Case Western Reserve University's graduate acting program showcased their talent in New York City. All six were signed by major talent agencies. "It is unheard of for an entire class to get signed and especially by agencies of this quality," said Paul Fouquet, casting director at Elissa Myers Casting Agency in New York. Read article.