Study Looks at Different Approach to Alzheimer's

An Illinois Wesleyan University professor and student are testing a drug that takes a different approach to Alzheimer's disease. Curent results show that Guanfacine may be effective at improving memory impairments.

Should You Hide Your Thesis?

Internet chatter about Hillary Clinton's "Hidden Thesis" from her senior year at Wellesley College has some students worried about having their work at such an early age available for pubic scrutiny. But Bryn Mawr's English lecturer Anne Dalke thinks it's not a problem, and that making such work public can be a boon to students, academics, and others.

Point Guard Scores Political Coup

The the Sunnyside, Washington, City Council is about to dramatically change its composition, after a Whitman College student's research showed its at-large voting system kept Hispanic residents off the council. The studies by Ian Warner, a 2007 graduate who was a point guard on Whitman's basketball team, attracted the attention of the U.S. Justice Department.

The Cost of Midnight Oil

"Pulling an all-nighter" is an end-of-the-semester tradition for most college students facing final exams. But will it actually help your test scores? St. Lawrence University psychology professor Pamela Thatcher studied the sleeping patterns and grades of 111 students, and found that those who regularly pulled at least one all-nighter a semester had lower GPAs.

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.

Why Truth Doesn't Always Win

Having escaped from war-torn Bosnia as a child, Sanja Jagesic knows about the frailty of justice in a harsh world. As a 21-year-old sociology student at Wellesley College, Sanja now immerses herself in research to explain why truth doesn't always win in a contest of ideas. Her work suggests that status and prestige affect knowledge proudction, and it has caught the attention of leaders in the field.

"And on the 30th Volume, He Rested"

Experts are already calling it "the new indispensable biblical research tool," and the first volume hasn't even hit the shelves yet. The Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception, co-edited by Lafayette College professor Eric Ziolkowski, will be a 30-volume publication. It will focus on exploring the Bible and its historical and contemporary influence on nearly every aspect of culture and society. The encyclopedia will be produced over the next ten years, and released at a rate of three volumes per year.

Local TV News Audiences Value Quality over Hype

The largest study of local television news ever undertaken bucks the conventional wisdom on what viewers want to watch. Wellesley College's Marion Just, one of the researchers who conducted the five-year study. says the study shows viewers aren't as interested as commonly believed in hyped story lines that emphasize danger, dirt, doom and gloom. She says local TV news could improve ratings by following the rules of good journalism -- putting in the effort to get good stories, finding and balancing sources, seeking out experts, and making stories relevant to the local audience.