News and Notes

October 2007

These highlights related to the social, behavioral, and economic sciences at Michigan State University are brought to you by the Office of the Dean and University Relations. For the latest news, visit our Web site at www.socialscience.msu.edu.

Faculty and staff are encouraged to share news of current research projects, publications, events, and awards. Call 517/432-0746 or send an email to Michelle Strobel.

AWARDS, HONORS, AND RECOGNITION

The College welcomed several new chairs and directors this academic year. Karen Wampler joined the Department of Family and Child Ecology as professor and chair. Ruben Martinez was appointed director of the Julian Samora Research Institute and professor of sociology. Richard Block is serving as acting director of the School of Labor & Industrial Relations. Associate Dean Brendan Mullen is serving as acting director of the Center for Integrative Studies in Social Science.

Congratulations to Michael Bratton—professor of political science—who has been named a University Distinguished Professor at MSU. The university's Board of Trustees named the 2007 University Distinguished Professor awards in June. The University Distinguished Professor designation is among the highest honors that can be bestowed on a faculty member by the university. Those selected for the title have been recognized nationally and internationally for the importance of their teaching, research and public service achievements.

Three School of Criminal Justice students have been awarded prestigious fellowships from the Department of Homeland Security. Marcia Williamson and Sterling Raehtz are undergraduate students; Jeff Gruenewald is a doctoral student in the School. They all are involved in a major terrorism research project under the direction of associate professor Steve Chermak. The DHS fellowships were awarded through the START Center (National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism).

Several social, behavioral, and economic science students at MSU have been awarded fellowships from the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) program or the Fulbright U.S. Student program:

• Andrea Freidus (doctoral student, anthropology) will be conducting research on children's rights and the health of orphans in Malawi.
• Dusty Myers (doctoral student, anthropology) will study decentralized management of timber resources in Ghana.
• Mitra Sticklen, who received her bachelor's degree from MSU this summer in interdisciplinary studies in social science with an emphasis on environmental policy, will travel to Trinidad and Tobago to study the role and voices of Trinidadian women in organic agriculture.
• Alberto Nickerson (doctoral student, history) will spend the year in Nicaragua investigating how indigenous communities, artisans, small-scale farmers and Afro-Nicaraguans responded to liberal reforms in late 19th-century Nicaragua. 
• Leslie Hadfield (doctoral student, history) will research community programs of the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa from 1969-1977.

In celebration of the successful Campaign for MSU, a recent special edition of the MSU News Bulletin included a conversation with Harriette McAdoo, professor of sociology and a former co-chair of the All University Campaign.

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

RESEARCHERS TRY TO CONTROL SLEEPING SICKNESS IN AFRICA
From Associated Content (Colo.): Michigan State University researchers are beginning a new study on the fatal sleeping sickness, or trypanosomiasis, in Kenya in order to develop a new model to predict when and where the next outbreak will occur. Sleeping sickness is caused by the tsetse fly found in certain regions of Africa. The MSU study will be a four-year project and will analyze climate change in Kenya, how land is used in Kenya and where the tsetse fly is located. The study will be led by Joseph Messina, associate professor of geography at MSU. See a related story in MSU Today.

MICHIGAN LAB FINDS BRITAIN WRONGLY EXECUTED MAN IN 1910 MURDER CASE
From Fox News: The name Hawley Crippen has been synonymous with murder for nearly a century in England. The Michigan-born homeopathic physician was executed in November 1910 after being convicted earlier in the year of poisoning and dismembering his showgirl wife. Crippen was arrested after he and his mistress fled the country across the Atlantic Ocean with the police in pursuit. ... David Foran, who heads up a forensics biology laboratory at Michigan State University, was part of a team to prove Crippen's innocence. See a related story in MSU Today.

MAKING CRIMINALS PAY FOR JUSTICE
From the Detroit Free Press: A bill passed unanimously in the state House in September would require anyone convicted of a serious crime, including rapists, to pay increased fines, a portion of which would go into a fund to support the nurse practitioner program. ... There are 15 other nurse examiner programs in Michigan, including one in Mt. Clemens for Macomb County victims and one in Detroit for Wayne County victims. All of the programs struggle, say the nonprofit groups that run them. Law enforcement officials say the funds generated by the proposed legislation would be money well spent. Nationally prominent researcher and psychologist Rebecca Campbell of Michigan State University agrees.

ABUSE SHELTER TO GET GRANT
From the Detroit Free Press: When staff members at Turning Point in Mt. Clemens ask questions, their goal is to get answers that will help victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. ... A $2.6-million, five-year grant from the National Institute of Mental Health will fund a database within the advocacy center and its services — a 41-bed shelter, medical facilities and advocacy offices among them, says lead researcher Cris Sullivan, MSU psychology professor. See the related MSU press release.

NEW PROGRAMS: BUSINESS, CHICANO/LATINO STUDIES, IT SERVICE, PUBLIC HEALTH
From Inside Higher Ed.com: Michigan State University is starting a Ph.D. program in Chicano/Latino studies. The university believes its program is the first such doctoral program in the field in the Midwest.

MICHIGAN CLIMATE IS WARMING, MSU PROFESSOR SAYS
From the Ludington Daily News: According to climate predictions from the Union of Concerned Scientists, Michigan’s average summer temperature will increase by 7 to 13 degrees. Winter temperatures are projected to increase 5 to 10 degrees. ... "Starting with the past — which we know the most about — in Michigan, the trends bear some similarities to some trends we’ve been seeing globally," says Jeff Andresen, associate professor of geography at Michigan State University.