In an AC 360 blog entry, Brown Alumni Magazine editor and publisher Norman Boucher remembers his encounter with David Rohde ’90, The New York Times reporter who recently escaped after a 7-month imprisonment by the Taliban.

President Ruth J. Simmons is one of 28 members named to the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships, responsible for recommending candidates to the President. Obama observed that: "these leaders are diverse, nonpartisan, and committed to mentoring our next generation of public servants. I’m confident that they will select a class of White House Fellows that demonstrate extraordinary leadership, strong character, and a deep commitment to serving their country."

Brown physicist Rick Gaitskell was on hand with South Dakota’s governor and other dignitaries to mark the opening of a former gold mine that now will be used to test whether dark matter exists. The Large Underground Xenon detector experiment (LUX) could give scientists greater insight into the Big Bang explosion believed to have formed the universe.

Douglas Brown, director of writing support programs, remembers a young boy he once reached out to, and reflects on the unexpected challenges of raising his own son.

The General Assembly heard testimony on the pros and cons of taxing non-profits in advance of a vote on two proposals designed to pull in more revenue from colleges, universities and hospitals in Rhode Island. John Donoghue, director of the Brown Institute for Brain Science, testified that taxing the only growing sector of the state’s economy is the wrong approach.

Colleges and universities in Rhode Island were concerned about diminishing enrollment because of the recession. Brown had no trouble filling its freshman class, but increased grants and scholarships by $7 million and gave students more leeway by allowing students to enroll in classes without paying first, according to Jim Miller, dean of admissions.

The brain’s natural defense system is called the blood-brain barrier. It protects the brain from harmful substances, but also inhibits some potentially life-saving treatments. Adam Chodobski, a professor of emergency medicine at The Warren Alpert School of Medicine, is one of many researchers working to skirt the blood-brain barrier for certain therapies.

Dr. Yow-Pin Lim, adjunct assistant professor of pathology, has received federal authorization to begin human clinical trials of a drug developed by his company to treat sepsis, the 10th-leading cause of death in the United States. A video accompanies the story.