Departments
In the News
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Week of 24 April 1998 |
Vol. I, No. 29 |
In the News
Flawed Giant, the second and final volume of the life of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Dallek, CAS professor of history, is reviewed in the April 12 Boston Globe and New York Times. Zachary Karabell, a historian writing for the Boston Globe, says, "To read Dallek is to experience Lyndon Baines Johnson rather than the biographer himself. Dallek is less a Boswell to his Johnson than a faithful, diligent, and thorough amanuensis." Sean Wilentz of Princeton University writes in the New York Times, "[Dallek's] evidence permits him, here and there, to revivify Johnson the vulgarian, statesman and political wizard -- and thereby to revivify a bygone era of national politics."
The drug tamoxifen, long used to treat advanced breast cancer, has shown some success in preventing breast cancer in high-risk women, according to an April 13 Boston Globe article. The drug carries a long list of potentially serious side effects, however, and doctors are cautioning women that the encouraging results should not cloud their judgment. Dr. Marianne Prout, associate professor of sociomedical sciences at the School of Medicine, says in the article, "I have been very cautiously telling my patients, 'Let's wait a couple of months and assess for each individual woman the risks and benefits.' I really hope most people won't go out and get a prescription based on the tidal wave of 'good news' feeling."
Roscoe Giles, ENG associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, is profiled in the April 1 issue of Computers in Physics. In addition to his work at BU, Giles is actively involved in developing computational science applications for secondary-school students. "The idea was to work with local educators to develop computational science education," he says in the article. "Our approach is not to go to the educators and say we have this wonderful technology, but to bring our expertise to the schools to help them with the problems that they face."
James Iffland, College of Arts and Sciences associate professor of modern foreign languages, defends tenure in an April 12 Boston Globe article. "Tenure is an institution that strengthens higher education and should not be singled out as the culprit for spiraling tuition costs," Iffland writes. "If tenure is destroyed, American higher education will suffer incalculable damage." Without tenure, Iffland says, fewer young people would pursue careers in academia because of the lack of job security. This would drive tuition up even higher because universities would have to compete for faculty from a smaller pool of candidates.
"In the News" is compiled by Laura Raichle, Office of Public Relations.