Thursday, October 5, 2006
Cancer: the Cost of Cure
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

Issue in Context
With medical care costs around the country soaring, it is no surprise that cancer drugs are doing the same. However the price increases of pharmaceuticals are not uniform. Express Scripts, a pharmacy benefit manager, produced a report indicating that the cost of a prescription for cancer treatment drugs rose 16% last year, while other prescription costs rose only 3%. Marcia Angell, faculty member at Harvard Medical School and former editor of The New England Journal of Medicine, suggests that these costs are “really exploiting the desperation of people with a life-threatening illness.” Yet if simply treating cancers costs this much, how much would it cost to find cures? If cures are possible, who should pay the billions it may take to find them?

About the Speaker
The speaker and Metzger-Conway Fellow, Dr. Michael Weiner, is a Dickinson College alumnus who received his medical degree from the State University of New York Health Sciences Center. After completing his postgraduate training at Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York University and the Johns Hopkins University Hospital, he Read more

Thursday, September 28, 2006
Sacrifice and Victory: The History and Now of Sacrifice and Victory for Human Rights
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

Issue in Context
Throughout the past century, there have been many struggles and subsequent victories for human and worker rights. From the 19th century struggle to abolish slavery to the current struggles of stadium workers at Camden Yards in Baltimore, many tactics and personal sacrifices have been integral for bringing about positive change for workers. The 2005 hunger strike of the Immokalee Workers against Taco Bell with a grueling four year legal battle finally resulted in Taco Bell’s acceptance of the worker’s demands for a penny a pound increase in the price paid for tomatoes. Taco Bell also pledged to work with the workers to improve wages and working conditions for farm workers in the Florida tomato industry. Without the tireless efforts of the workers, Florida tomato pickers, who are some of America’s lowest paid workers, would still be living far below the poverty line.

At Camden Yards, Baltimore’s baseball stadium, dozens of workers never received payment for an entire month of work. While those responsible for this were fired, it was simply the latest event Read more

Wednesday, September 20, 2006
The Roberts Court: The Past as Prologue to the Future
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium, 7:00 p.m.

Issue in Context
Constitutional law focuses predominantly on conflicts surrounding peoples’ individual rights. The issues of abortion and gay marriage are particularly fervent disputes today. However, our Constitution affects far more than social issues. The changing politics, strategies, and technology of warfare, especially since the attacks of September 11, 2001 have greatly affected how our Constitution is interpreted, and perhaps more importantly, how the rest of the world follows this interpretation. As soldiers, or rather “enemy combatants,” are captured, situations may and have arisen in which our Constitutional rights apply to them, especially if they are citizens of the U.S. Although some believe that members of the Supreme Court should act mechanically in their interpretation of the law, the idea of a mechanical interpretation is impossible as interpretation is not based on facts. Thus, the members of the Court will always affect the decision reached.
About the Speaker
Professor Fried was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1935 and became a United States citizen in 1948. He served as a law clerk to Justice John Marshall Harlan, as a special assistant Read more

Thursday, September 7, 2006
Mideast in Crisis: Israel and Lebanon
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

Fawaz A. Gerges, professor International and Middle Eastern Studies, Sarah Lawrence College; Larry P. Goodson, professor of Middle East studies, United States Army War College. A discussion of the recent and historical conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, its effects on Lebanon and its implications for United States policy.
Co-sponsored by the Asbell Center for Jewish Life and the United States Army War College. Read more

Thursday, March 30, 2006
Lincoln and Civil Liberties in the Light of 9/11
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 PM

Issue in Context
Throughout American history, the United States government has restricted certain civil liberties for the sake of national security in response to national crises. In light of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the problem of balancing national security with civil liberties has resurfaced as a widely debated issue in American politics. Political conflict inevitably ensues when governments increase security measures at the expense of personal freedoms. Such was the case during the Civil War when President Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus to imprison and exile Confederate sympathizers whom he deemed detrimental to the Union and the future of the country. Many argue that President Lincoln’s actions during the Civil War should serve as an instructive precedent for America in a post 9/11 world. As the nation is currently immersed in the war on terror, the American government is attempting once again to balance the civil liberties Americans have traditionally enjoyed with deadly threats from terrorist networks around the globe. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 have not only changed Americans’ present views concerning civil liberties and security, but Read more

March 7, 2006
Genetic Influences on Addictions
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

Issue in Context
Drug abuse and addiction are persistent problems in the United States. While environment plays a significant factor, genetics predetermines susceptibility to the development of addiction. A predisposition to addiction is evidently controlled by several different genes, allowing for a complex range of addictive traits. Though a large number of genes are involved in addictions, it is important to realize that the presence of these genes does not guarantee addiction; genotype does not dictate phenotype.

For example, one study estimated that 40 to 60 percent of cases of alcoholism stem from genetically influenced addiction. Other significant factors include environment, gender, age and ethnic group.

Due to the multifaceted manifestations addiction takes, there is no single medication that can be used to treat the disorders. Pharmacogenetics, the study of genetic factors that influence how a patient reacts to certain treatments, allows researchers and doctors to better choose the most effective treatment available for each patient. Every day new advances are made in the development of such methods.

About the Speaker
After graduating cum laude from Dickinson College in 1973, Dr. Wade H. Berrettini received his M.D. Read more

Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Understanding Cancer Symposium

Part I: What is Cancer?
Stern Center Great Room 12:00 p.m.

About the Speaker
Mike Roberts has been a professor of biology at Dickinson College since 1992. He is currently studying the regulation of gene expression in human leukemia cells during differentiation. This utilizes methods of recombinant DNA and molecular biology.

He is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Interdisciplinary Committee on Medical and Health Related Issues, and he has received a number of funding awards including the NIH Academic Research Enhancement Award and the Mellon Fund Summer Student/Faculty Research Award. He has published articles in the Journal of Environmental Law and Policy and the Journal of Cell Biology.

In 2003 he was given the Ganoe Award for Inspirational Teaching. He received his B.A. from Colgate University , his M.S. from Miami University , and his Ph.D. from Yale University.

Part II:  Healthcare Policies and Economics
Stern Center Great Room 3:00 p.m.

About the Speaker
David Sarcone has been a professor of international business and management at Dickinson College since 2001. He has held senior management roles in leading regional healthcare systems and specialty provider organizations. Professor Sarcone is currently a doctoral Read more

Thursday, March 2, 2006
Is the European Union Constitution Dead?
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

Issue in Context
The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe is an international treaty commonly known as the European Constitution . The purpose of the Constitution is:

• to bring together for the first time the many treaties and agreements on which the Union is based,
• to classify human rights and democratic principles through the European Union (EU),
• to define EU powers, stating when it can act and when the member states retain their rights of veto,
• to identify the roles of the EU institutions,
• and to make the decision-making process more efficient in what is currently a 25-member organization.

The Constitution’s effort to encapsulate all previous treaties enormously increased the document’s complexity and raised doubts about its effects in the diverse European setting. Furthermore, some countries saw it as instituting a European super-state, while other alleged it was establishing an ultra-liberal economic conglomerate. The constitution received additional criticism for extending the EU jurisdiction into areas of national strategy, such as immigration, asylum, and justice.

The treaty was signed in 2004 by the representatives of the member states of the Union and was later submitted Read more

Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Fatal Attraction: Fear of Death and Political Preferences
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

Issue in Context
In the 2004 presidential election contest, George W. Bush emerged victorious by a substantial margin (two percent) of the popular vote—perhaps omit this part. Republican officials declared that Americans voted for Bush because he shared their traditional and moralistic values, and were generally satisfied with the President’s approach to the War on Terror. Others have argued that other factors contributed to Bush’s victory, including sub-conscious fears born from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the belief that the lives of Americans would be endangered by the election of Senator John Kerry.

One may posit that the combination of the fear of death arising from the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the belief that Senator Kerry would not keep Americans safe influenced the electorate, thus demonstrating that the fear of death influences political preferences. Sheldon Solomon will present research to support this view.

To catalog evidence of the correlation between the fear of death and political preferences, Sheldon Solomon and his colleagues asked students to think about their own death and had them read campaign statements of three hypothetical political Read more

Tuesday, February 14, 2006
30 Years of Saving the Chesapeake Bay: Observations, Lessons and a Forecast for the Next 30
Stern Center, Great Room, 7:00 p.m.

Issue in Context
In past few decades, the Chesapeake Bay – one of world’s most complex ecosystems – has faced serious decline due to pollution and other factors resulting from changes in surrounding landscape and modern times. Most scientists attribute these changes, at least indirectly, to ecological stress due to human activities, especially land use changes in the bay watershed related to deforestation, agriculture, use of fertilizers, and more recently, urbanization and sewage.

The physical processes that drive the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem sustain many habitats and organisms. Even the smallest of creatures plays a vital role in the overall health and production of the Bay. Therefore, measures are being taken to preserve and return the Chesapeake Bay to a condition that more closely resembles its original productivity. In order to do so, scientists and resource manager alike must first explore ways to improve water quality.

Tom Horton will discuss the efforts being taken in the restoration process and obstacles faced in such efforts.

About the Speaker
Tom Horton, environmental columnist, writes extensively on the Read more