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CAS in the Media Arts and Sciences Media Headlines

WSU grad student wins highly competitive national scholarship

Corinne Kane
Corinne Kane

Graduate student Corinne Kane has received federal funding to study changes in coral fishes and their habitats, from shallow to deep waters. She intends to research the role deep-water coral reefs play in protecting fish and other dwellers of shallow-water reefs.

As one of three recipients of the Nancy Foster Scholarship from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Kane will receive an annual stipend of $30,000 and up to $12,000 annually as an education allowance. Additionally, recipients could see up to $10,000 to support a four- to six-week research collaboration at a NOAA facility.

“This extremely competitive program … nurtures development of the next generation of NOAA scientists,” said Daniel J. Basta, director of NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.

NOAA received more than 200 applications for the scholarship.

Read more about the scholarship and Kane’s research

Faculty member to explore culture, community via Fulbright

Peter Christenson
Peter Christenson

Peter Christenson works to connect his creative students at WSU Tri-Cities to like-minded members of the community. As a Fulbright award winner, he will apply this innovative approach in Scotland, as well.

An assistant professor in digital technology and culture and fine arts, he received a Core Fulbright Scholar Award; about 800 U.S. faculty and professionals earn this honor each year. He will spend seven months at the University of Dundee starting in January.

With students, faculty and staff, he will produce a video archive and multimedia exhibition about the diverse culture, traditions and stories of the region. The project will focus on new media art and exploring space—how to activate space, draw people into it and foster discussion.

Learn more about this creative and scholarly work

Most violent era in America was before Europeans arrived

Timothy Kohler
Timothy Kohler

There’s a mythology about the native Americans—that they were all peaceful and in harmony with nature. It’s easy to create narratives when there is no written record.

But archeology keeps its own history and a new paper finds that the 20th century, with its hundreds of millions killed in wars and genocides,  was not the most violent. On a per-capita basis that honor may belong to the central Mesa Verde of southwest Colorado and the Pueblo Indians.

Writing in the journal American Antiquity, WSU archaeologist Tim Kohler and colleagues document how nearly 90 percent of human remains from that period had trauma from blows to either their heads or parts of their arms.

Learn more about this myth-busting research at Science 2.0 and WSU News

Gang Mentality

Police say Portland, Ore., gang violence is exploding. A landmark report shows just the opposite.

Clay Mosher
Clay Mosher

Turn on the TV news and you’d have reason to believe gang violence in Portland, Ore., is out of control. Terse warnings from police and fallout from three recent high-profile shootings have prompted alarming reports in the media of a recent surge in gang activity.

But amid the rhetoric and media heat, a far more complicated picture emerges when the numbers are examined.

Clay Mosher, a professor of sociology at WSU-Vancouver and author of a gang assessment for Clark County law enforcement in 2012, says various agencies label gang-related crime differently—and often liberally. “Most crimes committed by gang members are not committed for the gang. But they can get coded as a gang-related crime,” Mosher said.

Learn more about efforts to measure gang activity

‘Housing First’ Helps Keep Ex-Inmates Off the Streets (and Out of Prison)

Faith Lutze
Faith Lutze

Many of the roughly 10,000 inmates who exit U.S. prisons each week following incarceration face an immediate critical question: Where will I live? While precise numbers are hard to come by, research suggests that, on average, about 10 percent of parolees are homeless immediately following their release. In large urban areas, and among those addicted to drugs, the number is even higher—exceeding 30 percent.

“Without a safe and stable place to live where they can focus on improving themselves and securing their future, all of their energy is focused on the immediate need to survive the streets,” says Faith Lutze, criminal justice professor at WSU. “Being homeless makes it hard to move forward or to find the social support from others necessary to be successful.”

Learn more about Lutze’s research into inmate recidivism