Research Paper

In honor of the Philadelphian who founded the local firms Braun Labs and Decor Bulbs Inc., the Honolulu-based Pacific Telecommunications Council has created an award to be presented to an outstanding telecommunications and information technology student. The O.S. Braunstein Prize - which will total $1,700 and include a $500 cash award, registration, and up to $1,000 for travel and accommodations at the annual PTC conference in Honolulu from Jan. 13 to 16 - will be given to a student whose research paper is recognized for excellence in the field of telecommunications.

U.S. food manufacturers have long opposed labeling foods that contain genetically modified ingredients. They fear that consumers would interpret the label as a warning. That fear is well-founded, according to a paper being presented today at a St. Joseph's University conference on global perceptions of biotechnology. After meetings with focus groups, researchers at St. Joseph's and Rutgers University concluded that many consumers would avoid buying products if they knew they contained genetically engineered ingredients.

Article questions anthrax finding HAGERSTOWN, Md. - A scientific journal plans to publish a research paper questioning the government's conclusion that an Army microbiologist at Fort Detrick was the sole perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people and sickened 17, two of the article's authors said Monday. The article will be published in the Journal of Bioterrorism & Biodefense, said the chief author, Louisiana State University epidemiologist Martin Hugh-Jones.

A scientific journal said yesterday that it would retract a research paper bearing the name of a Nobel Prize-winning biologist after a government report said the paper was partly based on faked data. The molecular biologist, David Baltimore, now president of Rockefeller University in New York, had long defended the study, which has been criticized since its publication in the journal Cell in 1986. A National Institutes of Health report, which was leaked to news organizations Wednesday, does not implicate Baltimore in the alleged fraud, but criticizes him for defending the paper's integrity despite evidence to the contrary.

Alease Gardler began her day at St. Charles Borromeo School in Drexel Hill listening to an in-school television broadcast on the plight of those starving in Somalia. Afterward, Alease, a 13-year-old from Lansdowne, headed to the school library to learn more about the African country - not from a standard reference book, but by placing a compact disc into the library's computer. That's one way St. Charles is integrating technology with traditional school lessons, librarian Pat Kirlin said.

The eerie strains of "Music in the Key of X" could be heard coming from Room 214 at Archbishop Carroll High School one morning this week. The haunting theme from the television series The X-Files was not playing to a new tale from the fringe of reality, though. History students would recognize the subject of the presentation by junior Lawrence James Bender Jr. as the legendary Battle of Little Big Horn, starring Gen. George Custer and Sitting Bull. Other students might quickly peg Bender as a student of history teacher Christopher Kane, who is using music ranging from television theme songs to rap, rock and classical melodies as a way to excite students about the past.

Hitler's mustache was itchy. But that was a trifling note in Tom Weise's serious attempt to portray an important "bad guy" to remember. History was alive last week as sixth graders at Harrison Elementary School donned costumes and the identities of 147 famous figures in a living time line. Families filed into the school auditorium to meet heroes, villains and celebrities - from Cleopatra (Sherry Hignutt) in white and gold to Shirley Temple (Lauren Black) in pink baby-doll dress and short, red curls.

Mention research paper to a classroom of high school students, and chances are you'll hear more than just a few sighs of exasperation and discontent. But students at Penn Wood High School are beginning to discover that research isn't as boring and time-consuming as it used to be. A new computerized, talking encyclopedia that the school recently installed has piqued the curiosity of more than a few students, and school officials predict it will quickly become the most popular resource in the library.

University of Pennsylvania president Amy Gutmann has donated $100,000 to help fund undergraduate student research, the university announced yesterday. It's the second gift that Gutmann and her husband, Michael Doyle, have made to the university since she became president in June 2004, bringing their total donation to $250,000. "It's one of the experiences that makes students at Penn really excited about their undergraduate time here and I thought that it would be important to make a gift that supported students having the kind of undergraduate experiences I had," she said in an interview yesterday.

Late-night snoring got the family down? Sew a tennis ball into the back pockets of the pajamas of your chronic snorer to force him to sleep on his side. Or, with a doctor's permission, have him take a mild over-the-counter diet pill containing a mild stimulant. Those were two of the suggestions made yesterday by medical researchers attending a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Philadelphia. Snoring, invariably the subject of humor, complaints and ridicule, was the topic of discussion during a symposium on "Snoring and Sleepiness.

Kat Aaron is a project editor with the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University in Washington Some call this moment the Great Recession. As the hardship has lingered, others have begun calling it the Little Depression. But equating the hard times of the 1930s with the hard times of today is mostly overblown rhetoric. Or is it? On the surface, the comparisons are obvious: a period of great wealth and exuberance followed by a stock market crash. After the crash, widespread economic pain.

Article questions anthrax finding HAGERSTOWN, Md. - A scientific journal plans to publish a research paper questioning the government's conclusion that an Army microbiologist at Fort Detrick was the sole perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people and sickened 17, two of the article's authors said Monday. The article will be published in the Journal of Bioterrorism & Biodefense, said the chief author, Louisiana State University epidemiologist Martin Hugh-Jones.

University of Pennsylvania president Amy Gutmann has donated $100,000 to help fund undergraduate student research, the university announced yesterday. It's the second gift that Gutmann and her husband, Michael Doyle, have made to the university since she became president in June 2004, bringing their total donation to $250,000. "It's one of the experiences that makes students at Penn really excited about their undergraduate time here and I thought that it would be important to make a gift that supported students having the kind of undergraduate experiences I had," she said in an interview yesterday.

In honor of the Philadelphian who founded the local firms Braun Labs and Decor Bulbs Inc., the Honolulu-based Pacific Telecommunications Council has created an award to be presented to an outstanding telecommunications and information technology student. The O.S. Braunstein Prize - which will total $1,700 and include a $500 cash award, registration, and up to $1,000 for travel and accommodations at the annual PTC conference in Honolulu from Jan. 13 to 16 - will be given to a student whose research paper is recognized for excellence in the field of telecommunications.

U.S. food manufacturers have long opposed labeling foods that contain genetically modified ingredients. They fear that consumers would interpret the label as a warning. That fear is well-founded, according to a paper being presented today at a St. Joseph's University conference on global perceptions of biotechnology. After meetings with focus groups, researchers at St. Joseph's and Rutgers University concluded that many consumers would avoid buying products if they knew they contained genetically engineered ingredients.

I WAS 12 when I learned the facts of life: My family wasn't rich. Until then, I thought we were. After all, we always had fresh fruit to eat, my standard for economic well-being at the time. In fact, my father's wages as a firefighter qualified me for a college scholarship from Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty. That government handout helped me move up a few rungs on the economic ladder. But I'm still a long way from rich. What's more, since I don't play the lottery or invest in risky stocks, I have no expectation of ever being wealthy.

In an ambitious partnership, Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania will open the city's newest public elementary school next week in a community already economically bolstered by its presence. The school, as yet unnamed, was designed from scratch and will be jointly funded and overseen by Penn and the Philadelphia School District. Already, property values have risen in the neighborhood, and some say the school is a major reason. "Penn has sort of set the gold standard here.

Grateful patients have named their babies after Camran Nezhat. One of the best-known gynecologic surgeons in the world, Nezhat has built a national practice with his brother, Farr. The Nezhats, who run surgical centers in Atlanta and at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., are regarded as pioneers whose work has greatly influenced the field of gynecology. They are also the subjects of a bitter public controversy rare for the medical profession. Some of the most eminent names in their field accuse the Nezhats of performing unnecessary surgeries, concealing complications, and making unsupported claims about the success of their treatments.

The eerie strains of "Music in the Key of X" could be heard coming from Room 214 at Archbishop Carroll High School one morning this week. The haunting theme from the television series The X-Files was not playing to a new tale from the fringe of reality, though. History students would recognize the subject of the presentation by junior Lawrence James Bender Jr. as the legendary Battle of Little Big Horn, starring Gen. George Custer and Sitting Bull. Other students might quickly peg Bender as a student of history teacher Christopher Kane, who is using music ranging from television theme songs to rap, rock and classical melodies as a way to excite students about the past.

Hitler's mustache was itchy. But that was a trifling note in Tom Weise's serious attempt to portray an important "bad guy" to remember. History was alive last week as sixth graders at Harrison Elementary School donned costumes and the identities of 147 famous figures in a living time line. Families filed into the school auditorium to meet heroes, villains and celebrities - from Cleopatra (Sherry Hignutt) in white and gold to Shirley Temple (Lauren Black) in pink baby-doll dress and short, red curls.