A quick look at the Daily Wildcat’s top five stories published this week.
1. Faculty diversity: ‘We’re not doing shit’
Diversity levels within faculty spark heated discussion
By Brittny Mejia
Faculty Senate members engaged in a heated discussion at their monthly meeting on Monday regarding the level of diversity within faculty and the methods with which to improve diversification at the UA.
With diversity numbers showing that tenure and continuing eligible faculty new hires for African-Americans totaled three from 2009-2013 and zero for Native Americans/Alaskan Natives in that same time period, some faculty members were outraged.
“I’d like to know what the provost’s office is doing about this,” said Andrew Silverman, a retired clinical professor of law and senate member. “They should be ordering every dean and not giving a raise to any dean, I would hope, until they do something about it … We’re not doing shit. We’re not doing anything in this university. Look at these figures.”
2. Lecture results in hate mail, threats
By Ethan McSweeney
A UA professor received hate mail and emails after videos of his lecture regarding Republicans and Fox News viewers surfaced on the Internet.
Pat Willerton, an associate professor in the School of Government and Public Policy, said he has received a fair amount of hate mail and email regarding the videos. One particular email he received was troubling, he added.
“The last full paragraph said something to the effect … that I’ll end up with a bullet in the back of my head,” Willerton said. “Well, that’s a hell of a thing to read.”
3. Award a no-brainer for UA Professor Carol Barnes
By Gabrielle Fernety
A UA professor will be recognized this weekend for her innovative research on the aging brain.
Forgetting things every now and then is normal for the aging brain, according to Carol Barnes, a Regents’ Professor of psychology, neurology and neuroscience. But for decades, it has been the norm to assume the old and forgetful must be victims of a neurological disease, Barnes said.
Separating what is normal from what is pathological has been Barnes’ goal ever since she received a life-changing phone call from her mother.
“It was about my grandfather having changes in his memory,” Barnes explained. “When I went to the library to find research about aging, most of the textbooks said when you become old, you become senile.”
4. UA students step into virtual city
By Adriana Espinosa
UA students will get the chance to learn about the history of Harlem, N.Y., through a virtual world next year.
Bryan Carter, assistant professor of Africana studies and the creator of Virtual Harlem, will be introducing a virtual classroom to the UA in 2014. Virtual Harlem is a representation of Harlem as it existed between 1920 and 1934, during the Harlem Renaissance era. Understanding the setting and lifestyle of this era is key for those studying in the Africana studies department at the UA, Carter said.
“Unlike a video game, a virtual world is unscripted,” Carter said. “You can do anything in that world.”
By Tanner Clinch, Science
This weekend, you’ll be getting drunk off of yeast poop.
In essence, the creation of beer is a chemical process called fermentation, where yeast eats sugar and creates waste in the form of carbon dioxide and alcohol. That waste is what gives you a buzz.
Getting this chemical reaction to occur in a way that produces something you would actually want to drink is the part that’s difficult.
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