Research yields results

“Were excited,” Superneau said. “What is known, not a whole lot, it is preliminary. We did identify a gene that is much brighter than others, and by isolating it, we can now verify it through our real time PCR machine.”

“It’s a very sophisticated project,” David Dunbar said. “So it takes time.”

Collaborating with Cabrini, Penn State Berks has been helpful in the research; each team of science major’s work together using each other’s resources, machines and professors.

Dr. Maureen Dunbar, associate professor of biology at Penn State Berks, said the main focus of the research is to examine the effects of estrogen on regulating the growth of breast cell during puberty. Estrogen is the primary hormone that is responsible for causing the development and growth of the breast during adolescence in animals, including mice and humans, Maureen Dunbar said.

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“It’s a very exciting, unexpected discovery,” Dr. David Dunbar, associate professor of biology, said. “Experiments take unexpected twists and turns, it’s not just a cook-book procedure. Sometimes the results are what we want and other times, not. But hey, that’s science.”

Fortunately enough, Allison Superneau, senior biology and Spanish major, and Ashley Mayer, senior biology and philosophy major, after years of research have recently discovered a gene called RTF1 that is over-expressed in mice with abnormal mammorary gland development using a differential gene expression technique. Their studies have shown it could potentially function in the mammary gland development.

“Although estrogen is a natural hormone, several previous studies have indicated hat it can also be carcinogenic. What Allison and Ashley are doing is important because it will help to understand more fully how estrogen may lead to cancer,” Dunbar said.

Superneau and Mayer have been working on this project for over two years. By using RNA from transgenic mice (those that have deformities in their mammary glands) sent to Cabrini from Penn State Berks laboratory, Superneau and Mayer identified a someone else’s personal space, especially children,” junior elementary early childhood education major Shannon Federici said.

According to the AP, “There are three million public school teachers nationwide, most devoted to their work. Yet the number of abusive educators, nearly three for every school day, speaks to a much larger problem in a system that is stacked against victims.”

On the pre-school level, putting an arm around a child for comfort or a hand over a child’s hand to stop fidgeting is very much acceptable. It is used as a classroom management technique.

However, those same actions past third or fourth grade, particularly with opposite sex teacher and student, can be construed as sexual assault, since the action is usually unwanted, Middleton said.

In the state of Pennsylvania, even a tenured teacher may be fired for what is called moral turpitude. If a teacher does anything illegal, unethical or immoral at any time, under the moral turpitude clause, it may be grounds for dismissal.

In some cases, teaching certificates can be revoked. Pennsylvania has a no-tolerance law for any actions that may be consid-

Sexual harassment: a rising issue

Sexual harassment is a serious offense that has been extensively covered in the media in recent years. It seems as though we are constantly hearing of different situations happening between teachers and students, older men or women and little children, and even priests and little children.

We are hearing more about these situations now than in the past. It may possibly be because our culture is more open about discussing such crimes than generations in the past. Older generations had more of a “hush hush” mentality when it came to a scandal. Now, it makes for good media and interesting conversation. If it came out 50 years ago that a priest was involved sexually with a little boy or girl, no one would believe it. In recent years, thousands of priests have been accused for things they did years earlier.

When some people hear about older men and women sexually harassing younger, innocent children, they are disgusted and don’t understand their mind-set. Others understand what they are going through because they themselves have specific disabilities occurring in their minds. These people see absolutely nothing wrong with talking to teenagers online, pretending to be 15 or 16 when in reality they are 45 years old.

TV shows have made a lot of money on shows that investigate child predators and catch them in the act. Many documentaries have been created showing the process of older people trying to meet up with younger children, mostly older men trying to meet up with young girls.

Oprah has done many shows about child molestation and has dedicated part of her Web site to catching child molesters. It’s an extremely serious topic that’s being addressed. For most college students, they don’t care about it as much because they themselves do not have children to worry about. Although they don’t have children now, it’s good to get involved before they have kids so that it can be changed in the future, by the time they have children.

Web sites such as Megan’s Law were created to help people living in neighborhoods find out how many child molesters are living around them everyday. If there are sexual predators, parents can take precautions. Even for those who don’t have families right now, Megan’s Law is extremely interesting to look at because it shows your neighborhood and area as well as how many convicted felons live around you everyday.

Companies should be more careful when interviewing and hiring people for jobs, especially in jobs that would entail being around children such as teachers, nurses, bus drivers, coaches of sports, etc.

A rising issue in the media lately, child molestation and sexual harassment needs to be addressed, so that our children have a better chance at having safe adults influencing their lives.