June 14, 1996 Newsmakers

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Television crews for the program of CBS This Morning were on campus June 11 to interview Drs. Laurent Couëtil and Stephen Adams live on the School of Veterinary Medicine's new high-tech equine treadmill. Couëtil is visiting instructor of large animal medicine, and Adams is professor of large animal surgery. The treadmill, which is the most sophisticated, computer-controlled version of its type built to date, helps detect lameness and respiratory problems in horses. (9606 ler)

A novel approach to studying glaciers has caught the attention of CNN science news editors. The approach, used by Jon Harbor , associate professor of earth sciences, and two students, relies on the use of a high-pressure hot water drilling system and miniature video cameras to drill holes in the Arolla Glacier in southern Switzerland and gather images from inside it. A 24-minute highlights video that shows changes in ice type within the glacier, and rare images of openings and streams inside the glacier, is being used in classrooms at universities in the United States and more than 16 countries. At CNN's request, a copy of this footage was sent to the network for use in its science and technology segment this summer. The Purdue group will return to the glacier July 23 to continue measuring how the ice flows and how the internal structure of the glacier ice changes over time.

News this spring that two Purdue graduate students discovered a flaw in a well-regarded on-line security system caused a stir in parts of the computer world, and media. The flaw, discovered by doctoral students Steve Lodin and Bryn Dole while working in Purdue's COAST Laboratory, could allow a hacker to penetrate corporate networks, read confidential mail, access private files and masquerade as an authorized user. "Once you know it's there, it's really trivial to exploit," said Eugene Spafford , associate professor of computer sciences, in an article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal. Spafford is director of Purdue's COAST laboratory, which is regarded as the largest university-based, dedicated security research lab in the nation. News stories on the topic also appeared in the Boston Herald, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Internet and Federal Computer Week . (9606smg)

Owners worried about what will happen to their pet after they die now can have peace of mind, thanks to a program of the same name in the School of Veterinary Medicine. The Wall Street Journal reported on the program, in which the owner arranges for an estate gift to be made to the school after the owner's death. The school will place the animal in another suitable home and provide medical care for the life of the pet at no cost to the new owner. Dr. Hugh Lewis , dean of the veterinary school, says: "We are interested in solving this problem for people, whatever the species or number of their pets." The story prompted calls from several radio stations for interviews about the program, including KEZK in St. Louis and CBC in Toronto. (9606 ler)

Newsday reported on a School of Nursing study on the needs of caregivers, by Peg Krach and Jo Brooks . The study found that caregiving duties often interfered with family activities, leisure activities and work, and that the average caregiver -- usually a married woman with children -- spent anywhere from one to 30 hours per week helping elderly relatives. Says Krach: "Health care professionals need to become more involved with developing, implementing and evaluating programs to assist caregivers of the elderly." Krach is associate professor of nursing, and Brooks is head of the school. (9606ler)

If it's broke you may have to fix it, but don't expect your credit card issuer to pony up the replacement bill. An Associated Press story recently carried a VISA U.S.A. announcement that as of March 1, banks and other issuers of VISA Gold credit cards no longer offer purchase protection on the cost of broken or stolen merchandise. Robert Johnson , professor emeritus of management, said he isn't surprised by the move. "Some consumers seem to have an inordinate number of accidents," he says.

Calling television the "plug-in drug," a recent story in the Chicago Tribune explored just how addictive television can be for children. The story featured Judith Myers-Walls , associate professor of child development and family studies, and her research on children and television violence. She told of her young son's friend who, after watching "Home Alone," duplicated the film's stunt of putting a nail through a board and leaving it face up on the stairs. Only this time it wasn't the bad guys who got the point it was mom. "There wasn't any blood when they did it in the movie," Myers-Walls quotes the astounded youngster as saying. (vic960613)

Carl Botan , associate professor of communication, has some chilling observations for anyone who works on a networked computer or uses e-mail: You may be being electronically surveyed today. In articles run by Cox News Service and appearing in the Louisville Courier-Journal and Orange County (Calif.) Register , Botan says the computer age has ushered in sophisticated surveillance techniques. "They (management) don't have to listen in to calls to develop a presentation of what you are doing," he says. (9606 ler)

It's 1 p.m., do you know how your kids are? In a recent story carried by the Arizona Republic , Susan Kontos , professor of child development and family studies, talks about the poor quality of day-care services in America. "We know that the quality of care in this country is, on the average, mediocre, and that there's too much poor-quality care," she says. Kontos says the ratio of adults to children is far from sufficient. (vic960613)

Grocery shopping has found its way into the Internet. In a story carried by the Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Wire and appearing in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , Richard Feinberg , head of the Department of Consumer Sciences and Retailing, talks about Shop 'n Save's newest service, grocery shopping via PC. Feinberg says: "Nationwide, home-shopping for groceries is in the beginning stages, but it's got a good potential for growth."

Recent stories in the Atlantic City Press and the San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle covered the National Conference on Gambling, Crime and Gaming Enforcement. The conference focused on compulsive, or "problem" gamblers. In the story, Carl Braunlich , assistant professor of restaurant, hotel, institutional and tourism management, says many big name casinos are implementing programs aimed at stopping runaway gamblers before they go too far. He says Harrah's Casinos trains employees about gambling addiction and provides information and hot-line assistance to guests. But, he says, only one casino actually intervenes when too many chips are on the table. The Netherlands also cuts off credit, stops serving alcohol and sets up computerized lists of addicts to keep them off the premises, Braunlich says.

So, does the consumer's spending habits influence the economy, or does the economy influence the consumer? Traditional theory holds that when the consumer spends, the economy is good, but when the consumer doesn't spend, things can get rough. In an Associated Press story that appeared in the Arizona Republic , Mark Skousen, economist and author, says traditional theory is all wrong. According to Skousen, investment moves the economy, and higher consumption is the effect, not the cause, of economic growth. Gerald Lynch , associate professor of economics, says in the same article that he isn't buying it. "It's a peculiar way to look at things," he says. "I'm not changing my textbooks."

Two heads are better than one, and they just might save your marriage where starting a small business is concerned. In a recent story carried on the Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Wire, Arnold Cooper , Louis A. Weil Jr. Professor of Management, says spouses who go into business together are likely to suffer less marital strain than if just one sets up shop. "A wife or a husband might say, 'You're married to your job,'" he says. "A lot of divorces result from that. At least two spouses in the same business removes that source of strain." Among the papers running the story were the Houston Chronicle , Orange County (Calif.) Register and Star Ledger , Newark, N.J.

Several newspapers nationwide reported on research by Roseann Lyle , who says even moderate exercise can deplete women's iron stores. Lyle, associate professor of health promotion, says: "We found that sedentary women who started a program of moderate aerobic exercise showed evidence of iron loss. Women who consumer additional meat or took iron supplements were able to bounce back." Among the papers that ran the story were the Washington Post and San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News . (9606 ler)

News of a new computer program designed to translate chemical equations into Braille has brought inquiries and visits from educators nationwide, says Fred Lytle , professor of chemistry who wrote the translation program. Articles on the software appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education and a publication by the National Science Teachers Association. (9606 smg)

Redbook magazine quoted Thomas Berndt , professor of psychological sciences, on how to teach children not to be fickle friends. Berndt advises explaining to the child how his action of refusing to invite a friend to a birthday part could hurt the friend. "Tell him 'It's for all the friends you play with,'" Berndt suggests. (9606ler)

While sometimes depicted as being rebellious and incohesive, Catholics are a stable community of worshipers, says James Davidson , professor of sociology. In his study reported in the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press and Sunday Record , Hackensack, N.J., Davidson says a solid majority of Catholics attend Mass regularly, pray often and believe in the primacy of the pope. He says: "There is a core of faith that represents a kind of unity or point of consensus that explains why Catholics can disagree on some issues without wanting to bolt from the church." (9606 ler)

A recent article in Graduating Engineer magazine focused on the variety of job-search situations engineering students find themselves in during the final months before graduation. Richard Stewart , director of University Placement Service, was quoted extensively in the story. Among his observations: "Half (the graduating students) have something by commencement and half don't. The myth outside of engineering is that all engineers have jobs waiting for them." The story also featured Joseph Mao , a May graduate in computer and electrical engineering, who has had a job offer since last summer, but is still looking at other possibilities.

Highly structured interviews are becoming employment boot camps for job candidates. Mike Campion , professor of organizational behavior and resource management, recently told Investor's Business Daily that structured interviews are extremely comprehensive and very reliable. "A structured interview can predict future job performance better than many medical tests can predict the possibility of someone getting a disease," he says. Campion says traditional, unstructured interviews, where the interviewer and the candidate pretty much just "shoot the bull," are worthless. So, how do you survive a thorough grilling? Campion says: "Know yourself and your capabilities. Make sure that when you're asked a question you don't have to say, 'I haven't thought about that.'"

Sidney Moon , co-director of the Gifted Education Resource Institute in the School of Education, gave advice to the parents of talented children in articles in the Washington (D.C.) Times , the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion Ledger and the Buffalo (N.Y.) News . The story also was carried by Copley News Service and the Health & Fitness News Service. Moon, assistant professor of educational psychology, says gifted children tend to jump quickly from one interest to the next. She provides a list of organizations that can help, plus a suggested reading list for parents.

James Porter , associate professor of English, recently told The Council Chronicle that without some form of copyright protection, the full potential of the Internet will not be realized. "The really creative people are not contributing," he says. "If we have some protections in place, we will see better quality information, more information and more creativity." (vic960613)

Long-term stutterers may start exhibiting symptoms in late childhood, according to Ellen Kelly , assistant professor of speech language pathology. Her study was reported in Your Health magazine. Kelly found that some older children who stutter show the same facial tremors present in many adult stutterers. In the article she says: "In adults who stutter, these tremors usually occur when the individual is really struggling to say a word or phrase. In both adults and children who stutter, these tremors may be visible -- like a trembling of the jaw and lips -- or invisible, and can be detected only by using sophisticated equipment." (9606 ler) NOTE: KELLY WAS PROMOTED TO ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, EFFECTIVE JULY 1. SO TITLE YOU USE FOR HER DEPENDS ON WHEN IP COMES OUT NEXT.)

The Purdue All American Marching Band performed for a worldwide audience during the pre-race festivities at the Indianapolis 500. The race was covered by ABC Sports. (gbj96-06-11)


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