At Brown

Staff Development Day includes public service project

The President’s Staff Advisory Committee (SAC) and the Brown Bookstore are sponsoring “Bring a Book to Brown,” a public service project, in conjunction with Staff Development Day on Thursday, Aug. 8.

Staff members are invited to donate new or slightly used books during Staff Development Day. Books can be brought to the SAC tent, which will be on The College Green in front of Sayles Hall, between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. The donations will be presented to Books are Wings, a program that accepts new or slightly used children’s books for distribution at local library evenings.

The SAC tent also will be where University staff may participate in a survey regarding President Simmons’ Initiatives for Academic Enrichment. Survey results will help set the agenda for the SAC-sponsored President’s Fall Forum to be held Sept. 24.

To thank staff for their contributions there will be refreshments and a raffle for prizes such as a $50 Brown Bookstore gift certificate and two season tickets to Brown football.

Obituary

W. Chesley “Chet” Worthington ’23, the second editor of the Brown Alumni Magazine, died July 22 at the age of 99.

Worthington was the BAM’s longest-serving editor – from 1931 until 1968. He also was curator of the Carberry Fund, which purchases books on behalf of the University Library, and for many years was president of Rhode Island Boy Scouts.

His funeral will be held July 29 in downtown Providence’s Grace Church. Contributions in Worthington’s name may be sent to the Josiah S. Carberry Fund, the Providence Athenaeum or the Boy Scout Fund of RI.

Awards and honors

Third-year medical student Brijen Shah was elected to serve as a regional delegate to the American Medical Association House of Delegates (HOD). Third-year medical student Julie Roth was elected to serve as an alternate delegate. The two are part of a group of 40 medical students who will serve with their respective state delegations in the HOD. The AMA speaks out on issues important to patients and the nation's health. AMA policy on such issues is decided through a democratic policy-making process in the HOD, which meets twice a year. The House is comprised of physician delegates representing every state; nearly 100 national medical specialty societies; federal service agencies, including the U.S. Surgeon General; and sections representing hospital and clinic staffs, resident physicians, medical students, young physicians, medical schools and international medical graduates.

Melissa Schoeplein, who received a Master of Arts in teaching this past May, won second place in the graduate division of the Black Theatre Network’s National Young Scholar Competition with a paper titled “What to Do When the Core is Enslaved: A Critical Analysis of the Search for Identity in Langston Hughes’ ‘Mulatto’ and Amiri Baraka’s ‘The Slave.’” Laura Rubin ’03, won first place in the undergraduate division of the competition with her paper, “African American Homeplace/Creators in Two Plays by August Wilson: ‘Seven Guitars’ and ‘Fences.’” Both students were invited to attend BTN’s 16th annual conference, held in San Francisco July 21-25.

The students’ papers were written for courses taught by Elmo Terry-Morgan, associate professor of Africana studies.

Rodrick Echols ’03 has been selected to be one of 70 undergraduate fellows by the Fund for Theological Education’s Partnership for Excellence Program. The fund awards fellowships to college students who demonstrate “superior academic achievement and exceptional promise for ministry, with the aims of introducing them to theological education and encouraging their vocational discernment,” according to a news release.

On the Road

Richard Besdine, M.D., interim dean for the Medical School, testified at a field hearing held by Sen. Jack Reed July 15 in Warwick. At the hearing, titled “Who Will Care for Us? The Looming Crisis of Health Workforce Shortages,” Besdine discussed how shortages of medical professionals affect medical education and medical practice. He also discussed the lack of doctors trained to adequately care for the nation’s aging population. Besdine is president-elect of the American Geriatrics Society. For more than 30 years, he has worked in geriatric medicine as a clinician, educator, scientist and administrator.

Study participants sought

People ages 18-60 are sought to participate in a study investigating genetic links to cigarette smoking in families. Participants will complete an interview and questionnaires about cigarette smoking and mood. They also will be asked for a blood sample to test genetic material. Each participant will receive $75.

Jeanne McCaffery leads the study, which is based in The Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine, Brown Medical School/The Miriam Hospital. McCaffery’s chief research interest is the genetic and environmental causes of health behaviors and conditions that contribute to life-threatening diseases such as heart disease and cancer. For more information or to enroll telephone Adrienne at 793-8156.