January | 2013 | CAS in the Media | Washington State University

^{CAS in the Media} _{Arts and Sciences Media Headlines}

Smithsonian webcast on sports mascot racism

January 31, 2013

C. Richard King, professor in critical culture, gender and race studies, will join other commentators, authors and sports representatives for a live broadcast from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian on Thursday, Feb. 7.

The event will include a series of panel discussions on racist stereotypes and cultural appropriation in American sports. In particular, the webinar will examine collegiate retirement of Native American sports references and some recent efforts to revive them despite the NCAA’s policy against “hostile and abusive” names and symbols.

King will discuss the origin myths behind mascots as part of the first panel beginning at 7:30 a.m. PST.

The National Museum of the American Indian regularly hosts intellectual and cultural events and symposia that include a select group of scholars and advocates, King said.

For a schedule of topics, list of panel members or to register for the webcast, go to nmai.si.edu/multimedia/webcasts/.

Prison Privatization Can Impede Job Growth

January 30, 2013

Building on earlier research in which they challenged the widespread belief that rural communities can create job growth by hosting state prisons, researchers at Washington State University have now found local job growth is often impeded in communities that become hosts to privately operated prisons.

“Our most recent research, which relies on a large, comprehensive national dataset, is consistent with our prior work showing that prisons really make little contribution to local economic growth,” said Gregory Hooks, professor of sociology at WSU. “Moreover, our study reveals that, in states moving quickly to turn over management of their prison systems to outside companies, the privatization of prisons often has a negative impact on employment prospects in host counties.”

Epigenetic Disease Inheritance Linked to Plastics and Jet Fuel

January 25, 2013

WSU researchers have lengthened their list of environmental toxicants that can negatively affect as many as three generations of an exposed animal’s offspring.

Writing in the online journal PLOS ONE, scientists led by WSU molecular biologist Michael Skinner document reproductive disease and obesity in the descendants of rats exposed to various plastic compounds (including BPA). In a separate article in the journal Reproductive Toxicology, they report the first observation of cross-generation disease from a widely used hydrocarbon jet fuel mixture the military refers to as JP8.

Both studies are the first of their kind to see obesity stemming from the process of “epigenetic transgenerational inheritance.

Former Secretary of State Honored with Alumni Achievement Award

January 25, 2013

Sam Reed, former Washington secretary of state and WSU social studies and political science graduate, was honored recently with the highest honor bestowed by the WSU Alumni Association.

Presented at the “Sam Reed Roast and Toast” retirement celebration on Jan. 10 in Seattle, the Alumni Achievement Award recognized his outstanding accomplishments and leadership during his 35 years in elected office.

Psychology Senior Wins MLK Service Award

January 24, 2013

As a freshman, Nick Montanari spent part of his spring break in Morton, Wash., helping people he had never met clean up and rebuild after severe flooding damaged their community earlier in the year. The five-day “Spring to Action, Break for Change” program, organized by the WSU Center for Civic Engagement, was a turning point for Montanari.