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Research

Malaria Prevention: A Train Wreck?

Malaria, that ancient scourge, survives. Over the past century, as sanitation and medical advances have conquered or controlled other diseases, malaria has resisted eradication. In 2010, the disease infected about 219,000,000 people and killed 660,000, almost all in developing countries.

Why?

Atlas Maps Women’s Lives

Anyone looking for vivid lessons on women’s lives – from the impact of the beauty culture to wage inequalities to domestic violence – will find them in The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World (Penguin Books, 2009) by Professor and Chair of Global Studies Joni Seager.

Now in its fourth edition, the atlas uses eye-catching maps to present otherwise dry data. Previous iterations earned Outstanding Reference Book honors from the American Library Association and won the Chicago Geographical Society's Publications Award.

A Poor but Standard Model

With the business model of the credit rating agencies in the news again, we wonder if there will be more than partial repairs.

Since U.S. Attorney Eric Holder filed suit against the market leader, Standard & Poor’s, seeking $5 billion in damages, we are about to find out. 

Surviving Natural Disaster

A hurricane, tornado or flood that destroys homes and property goes beyond individual harm. Entire communities suffer.

In the aftermath of an event like Hurricane Sandy, which devastated the New York-New Jersey shore in fall 2012, we naturally ask how people can rebuild their lives. But on a broader level: what makes one community or region better at responding to a natural disaster and surviving its aftermath? 

Math and Sports a Winning Matchup

As a kid, Rick Cleary learned early on that a career as a professional athlete wasn’t going to add up. Luckily, he had a pretty good backup plan.

“I’ve always loved both math and sports,” he says. “I wasn’t too good at sports. I was good at math.”

Cleary would eventually land on his high school cross country team – and parlay endless hours with The Sporting News into a life in statistics. With a PhD in the subject from Cornell University, he joined Bentley’s Mathematical Sciences faculty in 2001.

Medicine’s Yin-Yang

Have you ever taken ginger to sooth an upset stomach or been needled by an acupuncturist? These and other forms of traditional Chinese medicine have found favor with a surprising number of U.S. adults. Surprising, too, is the intertwined history of medical traditions in the East and West.

Assistant Professor of History Bridie Andrews-Minehan is well acquainted with the opposing and inseparable nature -- the yin and yang – of the two traditions.  As she puts it: “There is no way to draw a boundary between Western medicine and Chinese medicine, in either direction.”

Auditing the Auditors

Books and more books are stacked on shelves and in piles around the office of Accountancy Department assistant Christine Nolder. But there is one she keeps close at hand: a tattered paperback copy of The Philosophy of Auditing, published in 1961 by the American Accounting Association.

A Constitutional Imperative

One of the most inspiring moments in the American political process is the inauguration of a president, with its peaceful transfer of power and the president’s promise to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.” I am unfailingly moved by the majesty and simplicity of the ceremony, and reminded how much students can learn from the study of our Constitution.

Skimming: It's Worse than You Think

In our digital age, “skimming” has become a growing problem. Skimmers are small devices, installed by criminals on ATM machines, self-serve gas pumps and other devices to steal information from credit, debit or ATM cards.

According to the U.S. Secret Service, thefts from ATM skimmers now total more than $1billion/year. That number is expected to rise. In January 2013, two people were arrested in New Jersey and charged with skimming more than $1 million from ATM machines.

The Push and Pull of History

History, it is said, is written by the winners. At the dawn of the modern era, those authors were the great colonial powers. The nations of Europe, and later the United States, fired up the machines and know-how of the Industrial Revolution and carved out economic empires across the world.

A new book by Associate Professor of History Cyrus Veeser tells another side of the story.