In an address to the Urban League of Rhode Island, President Ruth Simmons discussed equal opportunities for education. The gap between children who have opportunities to learn and those who don't is widening along socioeconomic lines. News of poor-performing schools should command more attention, she said. The Journal published the full text of her speech at http://www.projo.com/simmonstalk

A common bacteria that clings to the inside of water pipes stays in place with the strongest glue known to exist in nature, according to a team of scientists. One of the researchers is Jay Tang, a former Indiana University physicist who now works at Brown University, and who co-wrote a paper with I.U. biologist Yves Brun. This wire service article appeared in more than 25 media outlets across North America, including USA Today and Newsday, and the CBS News Web site.

The Internet phenomenon of Chuck Norris jokes, which has caught on with middle-school through college-age students, was started by a Web site created and maintained by a Brown University student.

In a lecture titled “The Future of Environmentalism,” Carl Pope, the Sierra Club's executive director, told a Brown University audience to resort to “the language of the heart” in making environmental arguments. Pope delivered the first in a lecture series titled "Envisioning Alternative Environmental Futures.”

The idea of reparations to African Americans is getting attention in scholarship and in classrooms. At an April 20 meeting held by the Organization of American Historians, Brown University’s Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice was among the topics discussed. (Some historians at the meeting described the committee as a reparations committee.)

With minimal fanfare, the University of Chicago announced selection of its 13th president: Robert J. Zimmer, currently Ford Foundation professor and provost at Brown University. “The choice of Zimmer speaks worlds about the magnificent potential for excellent, substantive leadership in the American academy,” according to this commentary by Ted Vehse, professor at West Virginia University. “What Chicago did demonstrates how higher education is supposed to function, and what Zimmer said on the occasion accentuates the quiet dignity of that purpose. Noting challenges in an era of complex scientific, cultural and social transformation, Zimmer spoke of the university’s ‘singular commitment to inquiry.’”

The most comprehensive study ever conducted of minerals on Mars' surface reveals the planet has undergone three distinct geological eras throughout its history, with water playing a progressively lesser role in each. Associate Professor of Geological Sciences John Mustard participated in the research and is quoted in this article, which appeared on various news and science Web sites around the country.

The most comprehensive study ever conducted of minerals on Mars' surface reveals the planet has undergone three distinct geological eras throughout its history, with water playing a progressively lesser role in each. Associate Professor of Geological Sciences John Mustard participated in the research and is quoted in this article, which was distributed internationally and was published in newspapers and on Web sites around the world, including the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post.

A team of scientists including Associate Professor of Geological Sciences John Mustard has published the most comprehensive look yet at what the rocks and minerals on Mars say about its climate history and the potential that life may have briefly appeared there. Their conclusion: If the red planet ever raised a "life welcome" sign, it would have been during its first billion years. This article also appeared on Web sites around the country, including CBS News and USA Today.

More middle- and upper-income families trying to assess the value of a degree from a top-tier school. Even as the price of attending an Ivy League school approaches $50,000 a year, less-prestigious schools are offering more merit aid, making the cost differences starker. At some schools that are well-regarded, though not Ivy League, the discounts can be hefty.

The Iraq battlefield is the theater for medical breakthroughs that otherwise may have taken a decade to arrive. Among the breakthroughs: the creation of smarter prosthetic limbs. Professor Roy Aaron is interviewed about the project to create bio-hybrid limbs.

mtvU, MTV's 24-hour college network, and Cisco Systems announced the first mtvU "Digital Incubator" development team – ten student groups funded with $250,000 in grant money and offered a national platform to pioneer broadband content. One group is from Brown University.

A team of scientists including Associate Professor of Geological Sciences John Mustard has published the most comprehensive look yet at what the rocks and minerals on Mars say about its climate history and the potential that life may have briefly appeared there.