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Cacao analysis dates domesticated chocolate trees back 3,600 years

Researchers analyzing the genomes of cultivated cacao trees have traced their origin to a “single domestication event” some 3,600 years ago. The discovery opens a new front in a long-running argument regarding when and where humans started growing the source of chocolate.

Omar Cornejo.
Cornejo

“This evidence increases our understanding of how humans moved and established in America,” said Omar Cornejo, a Washington State University population geneticist in the School of Biological Sciences and lead author of an article on the study in Communications Biology, an open-access journal from the publishers of Nature.

“It is important in itself because it gives us a timeframe for asking questions that are perhaps trickier: How long did it take to make a good cacao? How strong was the process of domestication? How many plants were necessary to domesticate a tree?”

The study, which involved 18 scientists from 11 institutions, also found that cacao’s domestication ended up selecting for flavor, disease resistance and the stimulant theobromine. However, that came at the cost of retaining genes that lowered crop yields.

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Does Cannabis Make You More Creative?

A new study on the effects of smoking marijuana and its relation to creativity has some interesting results. As one of nature’s most medicinal plants, it turns out how it makes us feel and think goes beyond logical interpretations.

Emily LaFance smiling while holding a cute puppy.
LaFrance

Emily LaFrance, the co-author of the study and graduate student in psychology at Washington State University, says she first became interested in the topic when she noticed that a lot of her favorite artists admit they smoke marijuana. “This cannabis use was commonly thought to have been a cause of the creative success of many artists,” she explains. “I began to wonder about this commonly held idea—are cannabis users really more creative than non-users?”

Previous research suggests cannabis may enhance some aspects of creativity, although the results remain somewhat equivocal. Moreover, it is unclear whether differences in cannabis users’ personalities may account for any potentially beneficial effects of cannabis on creativity.

When cannabis is used over a period of time, it allows us to witness our many subtle motives which, under normal consciousness, are usually not noticeable. Duality within human consciousness becomes clear as does the ego and alter ego. With this expansiveness which occurs after ingesting cannabis, users may begin to notice infinite possibilities to raise the quality of his/her life that would otherwise have remained hidden from normal, defensive consciousness. And feelings of health and happiness naturally lead to hope and creativity, which of itself can be curative.

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Professor writes book on success, wins award

Dissects writings by Baldwin, Morrison on black male protagonists

A WSU professor’s new book exploring the successes of black males in literature recently won the 2018 Award for Creative Scholarship, announced at the College Language Association (CLA) annual convention banquet.

Aaron Oforlea.
Oforlea

Aaron Oforlea, associate professor at WSU, published his book, “James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and the Rhetorics of Black Male Subjectivity,” in 2017.

The book is a dissection of multiple writings by prominent black authors James Baldwin and Toni Morrison, he said.

In his writing, he explored how the two writers conceptualized the challenges their black male characters navigated throughout their books, Oforlea said.

“I wanted to know, intellectual curiosity, I guess, what helps us be successful,” he said. “How black men, specifically how these fictional characters, are imagined to be successful by these authors.”

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Vancouver junior, Cowlitz Tribe member awarded National Udall Scholarship

Emma R. Johnson.
Emma Johnson

WSU Vancouver cultural anthropology major Emma R. Johnson has received a prestigious and nationally competitive Udall Undergraduate Scholarship in its tribal public policy category.

“The Udall (Scholarship) is incredibly important to me,” said Johnson. “Completing all the work to apply and then being successful, it’s a really huge deal. It is helping me complete my education.”

Johnson is WSU’s fifth Udall recipient since 2015. The Udall Foundation, a federal agency, works both to strengthen the appreciation and stewardship of the environment, public lands and natural resources, and to strengthen Native Nations to facilitate their self-determination, governance and human capital goals.

The scholarship funds Johnson’s college tuition and fees for 2018-19, moving her closer to her career goal of serving the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, of which she is an enrolled member.

“My culture degree will come into play a lot in my future career working with both cultural and natural resources,” she said.

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Why didn’t Kevin de León go after Dianne Feinstein?

Democratic state Sen. Ricardo Lara of Bell Gardens, Calif., is running an online ad that consists of a TV commercial that his opponent, Steve Poizner, ran in 2010 when he was a Republican running for governor.

In the ad, Poizner promised to cut “taxpayer-funded benefits” for “illegal immigrants.”

But Poizner is now running as an independent and would prefer that voters not be reminded of views he held waaaaay back in 2010 — many of which he says he no longer holds.

Travis Ridout.
Travis Ridout

Political advertising expert Travis Ridout, a professor of political science at Washington State University and co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, said he’s never seen a candidate do this before. He doubts it will be effective.

“The average viewer might be a bit confused,” he said. “They’re asking, ‘Why am I seeing an ad for governor?’ Maybe the (Lara) campaign is hoping that some people in the media write about it so more people can be reminded of (Poizner’s) former views.”

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