Headliners

FIRE IN THE VEINS: Patrick Moriarty, director of the Atherosclerosis and LDL Apheresis Center at the KU Medical Center, was quoted in a U.S. News and World Report story about his research showing that firefighters have narrower-than-normal arteries. His study showed that 22 percent of a group of 77 firefighters averaged 39 years old but had the arteries of 52 year olds.“These men, as young as they are, for some reason have a high rate of early development of vascular disease, asymptomatic as it is,” Moriarty said. “What it means is that we have to find a way to make their job have less risk potential in terms of less cardiovascular risk.”

ISOLATED SOCIALIZING: Nancy Baym, associate professor of communication studies, has received press around the world, including USA Today and the Times of India. Baym’s research explores how social networking sites affect interpersonal relationships. “They're based on the premise that you're more likely to want to get to know people who know people you already know than all-out strangers,” Baym said. “So, rather than a dating site that just has people putting up profiles and trying to randomly match, what if you could put up profiles of people that had shared friends. Wouldn't those be more likely to succeed?"

CITY CLIMATE: Simran Sethi, the Lacy C. Haynes visiting professional in journalism, and Lawrence Mayor Michael Dever are featured on a Lawrence.com podcast detailing a climate plan presented to the Lawrence City Commission on March 31. Dever chairs the task force, and Sethi is a member of the Climate Protection Task Force and chair of the working group on policy, education and outreach. Dever and Sethi also will be featured in the upcoming issue of the Lawrencian and are penning an op-ed for the Lawrence Journal-World promoting the plan.

AIMING TO KEEP THE PEACE: Jomella Watson-Thompson, assistant professor of applied behavioral science, was quoted in a recent Kansas City Star article about the city’s consideration of eliminating Aim4Peace, a program designed to reduce assaults and murders in some of the most crime-ridden neighborhoods. Watson-Thompson is among KU researchers who authored an evaluation of the program, saying it has had tangible results in reducing violence, preventing potential shootings or violent retaliations. “Definitely, our recommendation would be to sustain the project over time,” she said. “It really does take a concerted investment of resources and time in a targeted place to yield sustained results.”