Strangers to Ourselves
(December 4-10)
It turns out that old cliché is true…
money can’t buy happiness. Social psychologist
Timothy Wilson (UVA) left
says studies show a person with close friends and
a loving family is generally happier than someone
who has won a million dollar lottery ticket. He says
lottery winnings bring a temporary happiness while
the pleasure of a good friendship is longer lasting
and renewable.
Also
featured: VMI
professors Kurt Ayou
and David
Rachels right
collaborated and co-wrote a soon to-be-published
novel, What the Shadow
Told Me. They speak
about the ups and downs of working together and
how they produced a book that would satisfy both
authors.
Can
U Rite? (December
11-17)
The new version of the SAT coming out in Spring
2005 has a writing component. For the first time,
students will be asked to compose an essay that
colleges will use to evaluate their writing skills.
In the world of high-stakes testing, writing professor
Carl Whithaus (ODU) above
left is concerned that
this new part of the SAT may not fairly reflect
the true writing abilities of all students. Also
featured: while many
teachers are worried about the peculiar shorthand
of Instant Messaging creeping into their students’
papers, Leila Christenbury (VCU)
above right
believes “this 2 shall pass.”
Rhythms
of the Heart
(December 18-24)
Over two million Americans suffer from an abnormal
heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation and many of
them are not even aware of it. Atrial fibrillation
can decrease the heart’s pumping ability by
40-percent. Dr. Mike Mangrum
(UVA) left
says a new surgical procedure called catheter ablation
offers the closest thing to a cure; patients can resume
a normal life within days. Also
featured:
pituitary gland dysfunction can lead to such symptoms
as chronic headaches, infertility, depression, fatigue,
and sexual difficulties. Dr.
Edward Laws bottom left
says the UVA Pituitary
Center has performed
over 4,300 surgeries on this all important gland using
a new technique that is minimally invasive.
Math and the Mona
Lisa
(December 25–31)
Was Leonardo da Vinci aware
that, in painting the Mona Lisa, he was using a
mathematical formula commonly referred to as the
“divine proportion?” Artist and physics
professor Bulent Atalay
(UMW) top left
suggests da Vinci consciously integrated many principles
of math and science into his art, making the Mona
Lisa a product of a mathematical construct as much
as the result of da Vinci’s painterly eye.
Atalay is the author of Math
and the Mona Lisa which
seeks to uncover connections between math and science
in Leonardo da Vinci’s art.
