INDEX
Emory Events Calendar, Page 2
Staff Editorial, Page 6
Police Record, Page 2
Arts & Entertainment, Page 9
Crossword Puzzle, Page 8
On Fire, Page 11
THE EMORY WHEEL Since 1919
The Independent Student Newspaper of Emory University
Volume 95, Issue 22
www.emorywheel.com
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Every Tuesday and Friday ACADEMICS
FRESHMAN FLING
Environmental Sciences To Launch Grad Program Students Could Receive Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Five Years By Rupsha Basu Asst. News Editor
Lex Gardner/Contributor
C
ollege freshmen dressed up in their best for the annual freshmen semi-formal at Fernbank Museum of Natural History on Saturday evening. Food and drinks were served, including a variety of desserts. A DJ played popular music and dancers performed coordinated routines around crowds of students.
HEALTH SCIENCES
Study Finds Potential Infant Autism Diagnosis By Harmeet Kaur Patterns of eye contact in infants may indicate whether a child will develop autism, resulting in diagnoses as an infant rather than as a child, according to a recent study by Emory researchers. In the study, published in academic journal Nature on Nov. 6, researchers used eye-tracking technology to measure how infants look at and respond to faces, bodies and objects. The researchers found that children later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) showed a decline in paying attention to other people’s eyes within the first six months of
life, compared to children who were not later diagnosed with autism. Warren Jones is an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the Emory University School of Medicine and was lead author of the study with Ami Klin, chief of autism and related disorders at the Marcus Autism Center and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar at Emory. Jones said these results are the earliest signs of autism ever observed. William Sharp, instructor of pediatrics at the Emory University School of Medicine, said that the results of the study will allow for earlier diagnoses of autism, which could lead to earlier and more effective intervention.
LIBRARY
OBITUARY
Health Sciences Beat Writer
“For most kids, autism isn’t being diagnosed until they’re five or six years old,” Sharp said. “If you’re waiting that long, you’re missing out on a host of critical periods early in infancy and childhood where you could be intervening. This will help close the gap and provide treatment in an effective manner.” According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), about 1 in 88 children were identified to have ASD in 2008. Jones said evidence-based therapies such as Applied Behavior Analysis, which is a system of behavior modification designed to bring about positive change in behavior, can be effective interventions for children with autism. Such therapies, Jones
said, can be very helpful in improving a child’s communication and daily living skills. Jones said eye contact is a “fundamental building block of social development.” He said the study found that infants whose eye contact declined most rapidly were also the ones who were most disabled later in life. “Attention to other people’s eyes is an important part of infant development,” Jones said. “Babies look more at the eyes than at other parts of the face, and more at the face than other parts of the body.” According to the study, deficits
See EARLY, Page 3
Emory’s Department of Environmental Sciences will launch a new program next fall that will allow sophomore and junior Environmental Studies majors to earn both a Bachelor and Master of Science in five years and one summer. After the program is in place for one year, Emory will also launch a two-year graduate program for nonEmory students. The 4+1 Emory program is designed to apply the natural and social sciences to regional and global conservation, according to a statement sent to the Wheel by Uriel Kitron, the chair of the Department of Environmental Sciences. Kitron added that the need for a graduate program exists due to increased demand and opportunities for research in the field. “Increasingly, people are looking for something that will set you apart from people with a bachelor’s [degree],” he said. The environmental sciences include ecology, conservation, earth sciences and social sciences with the ultimate goal of creating solutions to regional and global environmental challenges. According to Kitron, the major is one of the most interdisciplinary fields of study. The department members will hire additional professors, specifically those with a focus in the social sciences, for the five-year program, Kitron said. In regard to the new two-year program, it is not a requirement for students who apply from outside of
Emory to have studied environmental sciences as an undergraduate, Kitron said. According to him, an interest in environmental studies has increased during the last few years due to the political dispute about climate change. While politicians continue to dispute the facts about climate change, many scientists agree that human beings are mostly responsible for global warming. Kitron said the disparity exists because scientists are not adequately communicating their hypotheses to the laymen. “The way we communicate as scientists is not very effective,” he said. “We are trained as scientists to give all the facts. It’s not a good way to communicate with the media.” He added that another potential reason for the ongoing political dispute is the financial agendas of lobbyists, particularly in the United States as compared to various European countries. As the issue of environmental preservation becomes more prominent in mainstream media, Emory Environmental Science students are also faced with the local ecological challenges present in Atlanta’s urban ecosystem. “Atlanta is a fascinating case study,” Kitron said. “Atlanta has a lot of advantages and a lot of problems related to climate, transportation, sprawl and deforestation.” As more and more people move into urban areas, students in the field will need to understand not just the science but also the political fac-
See KITRON, Page 4
EVENT
LGBTQ Becky Provine, 64, Left Officials Nursing Legacy at Emory Give Papers To MARBL By Dustin Slade News Co-Editor
By Naomi Maisel Staff Writer Four Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) elected officials in Atlanta donated papers to Emory’s Manuscript, Archives and Rare Books Library (MARBL) earlier this month that reveal their experiences as official figures and members of the LGBTQ community. The donors include Georgia State Rep. Karla Drenner, Atlanta City Council member Alex Wan, Doraville City Council member Brian Bates and Atlanta political activist Ken Britt. Wan, who donated the materials from his 2004 campaign for the Georgia House of Representatives as well as his campaign materials from the 2009 and 2013 Atlanta City Council races, said these documents will be crucial to historians in looking back on the lives of members of the LGBTQ community and clearly tracing their development. Wan said he plans to donate materials from the years he served on City Council and other related files he will come across during his time in office. “While all of us in the LGBT com-
See NEW, Page 4
Rebecca “Becky” Provine, Emory’s vice president of patient care who dedicated her life to caring for others, died Tuesday. She was 64. The cause of death was complications related to breast cancer. Provine, who passed away at Emory University Hospital, came to Emory in 1996 from Memphis with her husband of 33 years, William “Bill” Provine, who is also a nurse. She began her work at Wesley Woods Hospital as a clinical nurse specialist certified in geriatrics. She spent 11 years at the hospital until 2007 when she took over the role of chief nursing officer. In 2011, during an organizational restructuring of Emory Healthcare, Provine was promoted to the position of vice president of patient care. Provine’s responsibilities at the hospital gradually increased not because she sought them out but because her peers identified her as a leader, Chief Nursing Executive of Emory Healthcare Susan Grant said. “She had a passion for the care of the elderly,” Grant said. Grant, who used to be Provine’s boss, became very close with Provine through her years at Emory. “She became a very dear friend,” Grant said. “I had a lot of admiration for her and really respected her. I helped her with some things, and I learned a lot from her.” Grant added that Provine had a great sense of humor and a quick wit. Provine, who spent 42 years as
NEWS AN LOOK INTO EMORY’S RELATIONSHIP WITH GA TECH ... PAGE 3
Rebecca Provine, Emory V.P. of patient care, died Nov. 12 due to complications from breast cancer.
Courtesy of AJC
a nurse and worked until the end of her life, was recently named the 2013 Georgia Nursing Leader by the Georgia Organization of Nursing Executives. Provine received the award before she died. When her director notified her that she had won, Provine joked that they must not have had many nominations. “Truth is, there were tons of nominations,” Grant said. Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President of Patient Services at Emory Johns Creek Hospital, Marilyn Margolis, agreed that in addition to her work ethic, Provine had a wonderful sense of humor and could “always see the joy in things.” “She was a servant leader; she really defined what it meant to be caring about others,” Margolis said. “She really was the one person that I know that truly served everyone. She served her patients, served the hospital, her employees [and] her leadership team.” Provine was active at her church, Grant said, pointing out that she taught
See PROVINE, Page 4
Mark Spicer/Contributor
Students from 13 campus organizations designed their own outfits made out of plastic trash bags, caution tape and newspaper for Emory Fashion Forward and Unity Month’s Trashion Show.
Students Strut in ‘Trashion’ Show By Karishma Mehrotra News Co-Editor Students danced, strutted and modeled their handmade, caution tape dresses, newspaper skirts and trash bag vests down a pseudo-catwalk for a packed audience in the Dobbs University Center’s Winship Ballroom Friday evening. The third annual Trashion Show brought 13 competing student organizations — such as Emory’s dance troupe TrickaNomeTry (TNT), Volunteer Emory and the Residence Hall Association — and one individ-
ual to design and create outfits made out of trash and recyclable materials for prizes worth up to $300. Emory’s fashion club Emory Fashion Forward organized the event in collaboration with the Office of Multicultural Programs and Service’s (OMPS) Unity Month, a monthlong effort to inform Emory of its diversity. “The purpose of the Trashion Show is to encourage students to get creative through upcycling, to showcase the arts at Emory and to collect donations for a local nonprofit,” Emory Fashion Forward
Co-President and Unity Month Coordinator Jenny Fernandez, who is in her final year at the Rollins School of Public Health Masters program, wrote in an email to the Wheel. “In addition, the Trashion Show aims to unite various student groups in a creative manner and bring together students from diverse backgrounds.” Judges — Matt Garrett, assistant dean for Campus Life and director; Jessica Morrison, interim assistant director of OMPS and Lisa Kendall, associate director of the Office of
See KATHERINE, Page 3
OP-EDS THINKING
A&E ‘THE BOOK THIEF’ GETS
SPORTS VOLLYBALL,
WISELY ABOUT CHARITABLE
THREE OUT OF FIVE STARS IN
SOCCER ADVANCE IN
TOWN HALL TO DISCUSS
CHAMPIONSHIPS
RENOVATION PLANS
GIVING
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