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CAS in the Media Arts and Sciences Media Headlines

Undergraduate researchers tackle important questions in sciences, humanities

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, relieving chronic pain, understanding protest behavior and conserving wildlife are among the goals of eight faculty-mentored undergraduate research projects funded this spring by the College of Arts and Sciences.

Students from across the college—in mathematics, chemistry, foreign languages and political, psychological, environmental and biological sciences—are working with faculty researchers to solve questions as diverse as what are a book’s chances of becoming a best seller and which food sources threatened butterflies prefer.

Courtney Meehan.
Meehan

“The College of Arts and Sciences enthusiastically supports our students’ intellectual curiosity and the wide range of exciting and impactful research they conduct,” said Courtney Meehan, CAS associate dean for research and graduate studies. “Providing funds for these projects, and many more, advances the college’s ongoing commitment to support undergraduate students’ participation in an array of innovative research, scholarship and creative activities.”

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WSU Insider

High protein diet may harm polar bears

Charles Robbins.
Robbins

A high protein diet appears linked to kidney disease and shortened lifespans for captive polar bears, a relationship similarly suspected in humans, according to a review led by Washington State University wildlife biologist Charlie Robbins.

“Zoos made some assumptions in the past about the nutritional requirements of polar bears because their diet is almost exclusively animals,” said Robbins, professor and founder of WSU’s Bear Center. “But, unlike cats, they do not need and cannot tolerate high protein.”

“Although we knew that polar bears selected for the blubber of their prey, this was the first time we were able to quantify how much fat they were actually consuming,” Robbins said. “When it comes to feeding polar bears, the general mindset has been that they are carnivores. No one has really been paying attention to the amount of protein they might need, much less limitations on how much they might tolerate.”

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Phys.org
WSU Insider
Vet Candy
Billings Gazette

We the People: What led to the Cold War? Fear of nuclear weapons annihilating all life on Earth, for one thing

By Pip Cawley, PhD, political science

There are two official answers to this question. One is that the U.S. was concerned about the spread of communism. The other is that the U.S. was concerned with the possibility of nuclear war. The myriad ways the fear of communism influenced the United States are too numerous and complex for this brief article.

The Cold War, so named because the two major powers, the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, never “heated up” or fought open war in Europe, lasted from 1945 to 1990.

Some historians argue the Cold War started during the end of World War II and that the use of the first nuclear weapons on Japan was intended, among other things, to intimidate the Soviets.

While fear of nuclear war no longer influences our daily lives, as it did during the Cold War, it remains a real concern in international relations.

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The Spokesman-Review

Elson S. Floyd Cultural Center presents Schubert’s ‘Winterreise’

The School of Music and the Elson S. Floyd Cultural Center present an immersive concert experience of Franz Schubert’s landmark song cycle Winterreise (Winter Journey) on Friday, Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free.

Yoon Wah Roh.
Roh
Aaron Agulay.
Agulay

This performance will feature WSU faculty Aaron Agulay (baritone) and Yoon-Wha Roh (piano) and the artwork of Walla Walla-based artist Keiko Hara. It will be followed by an artist meet and greet.

This performance will be the first of its kind on the WSU Pullman campus and will kick off a series of cultural events that amplify the work of local artists and support a more welcoming WSU campus culture and climate.

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WSU Insider

Sometimes, what counts for a boy is just hanging out with a guy who cares

Sometimes, it’s about two guys putting together a gingerbread house kit. At age 11, a boy like Heaven Lowe is soaking up all those new experiences.

A gingerbread house needs frosting, and to make frosting, a guy needs to know how to separate the egg white from the yolk, his “big brother” says.

Big Brothers Big Sisters sets up matches like this all around the region, working with 1,200 children — almost evenly divided between boys and girls — who have mentors.

Heaven’s mom, Miranda Cady, 31, has three sons in the mentoring program. The boys’ father provides child support, but isn’t very involved in their daily lives, she says. She receives financial aid while taking online classes at Washington State University’s Global Campus, studying psychology and human resources management.

“A lot of my family never went to college,” she says. Cady’s goal is to open up a group home for foster children. With her background, she says about being a foster child, “I know how bad it can be.”

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Omaha World-Herald