News Sources: Driver's Licenses for Illegal Immigrants

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer on Wednesday dropped a plan to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants in his state because of overwhelming opposition to the proposal in an issue with repercussions in the U.S. presidential campaign. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Dean Hubbard - Professor of Public Policy, Sarah Lawrence College - Holder of the Joanne Woodward Chair in Public Policy, Hubbard’s expertise focuses on issues of immigrant laborers, U.S. labor law, employment discrimination and community organization.

Ellen Percy Kraly - Associate Professor of Geography, Colgate University - Kraly's studies on emigration are displayed in exhibits on Ellis Island and frequently cited in national publications. She has served as a consultant to the United Nations Statistical Office and U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform on immigration and the environment, and is currently working on a federally funded study of undocumented migrants in the U.S. workforce.

Robert Smith - Assistant Professor of Sociology, Barnard College - Smith has authored numerous articles on immigration, and is currently revising book on Mexican immigration. He is co-author of a report to U.S. State Department comparing InterAmerican and Mediterranean-European migration systems.

Did Welfare Reform Work?

We know that the welfare case load fell and that work increased following the passage of welfare reform legislation in 1996. But how did this affect children, family structure, and incomes of recipients? Bowdoin College economist John Fitzgerald's demographic studies of government welfare and anti-poverty programs showed little, if any, decline in single motherhood as a result of reforms partially aimed at reducing the number of unwed mothers.

The Sky is Not a Ceiling

As an astronomer, Aileen O'Donoghue has spent a lifetime struggling to answer the question: "What's out there?" In the course of her quest, the stars drove O'Donoghue back to morning Mass. Her new book, The Sky Is Not A Ceiling, lays out the spiritual and scientific journey of the St. Lawrence University Priest and Associate Professor of Physics.

News Sources: ADHD Drugs Called into Question

Drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have no long-term effectiveness and could stunt your child's growth, according to a new long-term study of 600 children across the U.S. since the early 1990's. Meanwhile, scientists have conceded that test results have that have prompted the parental craze to dole out ritalin to their kids may have been exaggerated. Reporters looking for sources to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Jaine Strauss - Professor and Chair of Psychology, Macalester College - Strauss, a clinincal psychologist, recently wrote an article on the effects of the stimulant Ritalin on children with attention deficit disorder and oppositionality disorder for the American Psychological Association's Journal of Abnormal Psychology.

Barbara Schecter - Director of the Graduate Program on Child Development, Sarah Lawrence College - Schecter is an expert in adolescence and gender, aesthetic development and ethical issues in psychology.

Leslie Rescorla - Professor of Psychology/Director of the Child Study Institute, Bryn Mawr College - As a clinical developmental psychologist, Rescorla's most sought after expertise and research is on "expressive language delay" in children. She has also completed research on the "hurried" child syndrome, the health of homeless children and the academic expectations in mothers of preschool children.

A Million-Dollar Opportunity

Illinois Wesleyan University's class in Portfolio Management challenges students to research and evaluate an investment portfolio. But unlike other college portfolio classes, the stocks these IWU students manage are real - a portfolio provided by two alumni that is now worth more than $1 million.

Taking Teachers Seriously

As policy makers and scholars assess the challenges to teacher education programs, they almost always address those at large research universities. But a new book co-edited by Vassar College education department chair Christopher Bjork argues that educators should glean valuable insights from the liberal arts model, which - unlike large institutions - is not driven by a desire to help teachers meet student-testing mandates.