Ted Widmer, director of the John Carter Brown Library, comments on Sen. Arlen Specter’s decision to leave the Republican Party. “It’s odd that parties are sacrosanct to so many people now, given how little the founders liked them or how fluid they have been in American history,” Widmer said. “George Washington detested the 'baneful effects' of parties, and spent considerable time warning against a mentality that placed party over nation, even then.”

Students attending the city’s four private colleges and universities may have to pay a $300-a-year tax, under a proposal floated by Mayor David N. Cicilline to generate revenue for the cash-strapped capital city. Cicilline has been quietly meeting with students and administrators to garner support for the proposal. Three of the four institutions have made their opposition known to Cicilline. Student-government representatives from all the universities said they hoped to come to a unified position on the issue.

Chemistry professor Shouheng Sun and graduate student Chenjie Xu have created special nanoparticles that seek out and destroy a class of breast-cancer cells that affects up to 30 percent of patients. The report was accompanied by a video report of the scientists’ efforts.

Jennifer Lawless, assistant professor of political science who challenged U.S. Rep. James R. Langevin in the 2006 Democratic primary, will become director of the Women & Politics Institute at American University in Washington D.C. The institute conducts research and provides women with academic training to encourage them to become involved in the political process, Lawless’s prime academic interest.

The 2009 Rhode Island Business Plan Competition has awarded several students with cash and in-kind prizes for their entrepreneurial talents. Runa, a Brown group that creates energy drinks and other beverages from Amazonian tree leaves, won the student track of the competition. Competition finalists included a Brown student team that has created stain-resistant underwear, and another that develops games with electroencephalography.

The automobile has enjoyed a central place in the American psyche life since Henry Ford started rolling Model T’s off an assembly line in the early 1900’s. Now car sales are plummeting, icons of the American auto industry are closing down or filing for bankruptcy protection, and some individuals are abandoning or burning their cars because they can’t afford the payments and repairs. Professor of Anthropology Catherine Lutz co-authored this op-ed as well as a forthcoming book on the automobile’s rise and apparent fall.