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CAS in the Media Arts and Sciences Media Headlines

Researcher affirms 86-year-old hypothesis

A Washington State University biologist has found what he calls “very strong support” for an 86-year-old hypothesis about how nutrients move through plants. His two-decade analysis of the phenomenon has resulted in a suite of techniques that can ultimately be used to fight plant diseases and make crops more efficient.

Michael Knoblauch, biological sciences
Michael Knoblauch

Some 90 percent of the food we consume at one time went through a plant’s phloem, the vascular system that carries sugars and other nutrients from leaves, where they are produced by photosynthesis, to roots and fruits. But scientists know so little about how this works, said Michael Knoblauch, professor in the WSU School of Biological Sciences, that they’re like cardiologists who haven’t learned about the heart. » More …

Student research supports LIGO, flight, bone development

Three undergraduate students were awarded $3,000 research grants from Washington River Protection Solutions as part of the Chancellor’s Summer Scholars Program at WSU Tri-Cities.

The students will conduct research collaboratively with faculty mentors, developing skills to prepare them for careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) or a related field. Two of the three mentors are members of CAS faculty. » More …

‘Basketball IQ’ and the racial coding of the word

Examining the ambiguous yet ubiquitous term

David LeonardBy David Leonard, professor and chair, Dept. of Critical Culture, Gender, and Race Studies

In our era of analytics, statistics provide a new window into the game.

We have statistics for just about everything: player efficiency ratings, Expected Possession Value-Added, win shares, usage rates … but basketball IQ?

In a moment where numbers supposedly never lie and the beauty of the game can be boiled down to a formula, the emphasis on basketball IQ is of little surprise.

If only there was a test for basketball IQ…. » More …

Family Drug Treatment Court Helps Families Reunite, Study Finds

van Wormer
Jacqueline van Wormer

Parents who participated in family drug treatment courts to address substance-abuse issues—while their children were in foster care—were reunited with their children at higher rates than parents who did not participate in the courts, according to a study published in the Juvenile & Family Court Journal.

“(Family Drug Treatment Courts, or FDTCs) seek to blend the coercive ability of the dependency court with treatment and other needed services in order to more effectively address substance abuse and addiction in families,” writes Jacqueline van Wormer, assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice at WSU, and Ming-Li Hsieh, a doctoral student at the school.

“These programs aim to reunify families, if in the best interest of the child.” » More …

This study found race matters in police shootings, but the results may surprise you

The conventional thinking about police-involved shootings, and some scientific research, has been that black suspects are more likely to be shot than white suspects because of an implicit racial bias among police officers. But now a new study has found exactly the opposite: even with white officers who do have racial biases, officers are three times less likely to shoot unarmed black suspects than unarmed white suspects. » More …