Issues

Vigilante Justice May Be a Matter of Trust Vigilante justice is growing in many countries in Latin America, and a new study by Vanderbilt’s Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) helps explain why. As criminal violence has become all too common, ordinary citizens have increasingly taken matters into… Read More

One hundred million dollars in gifts for scholarships. That’s the ambitious goal of Opportunity Vanderbilt, the university’s commitment to replace need-based undergraduate student loans with grants and scholarships. The good news: To date, Vanderbilt has raised $81 million in gifts for scholarship endowment. The not-so-good news: Vanderbilt’s… Read More

When college students move out of their residence halls, they can generate a lot of waste. In addition to typical things like linens, futons, small chairs, bedding, small drawer sets, mini-fridges, microwaves, lamps, books and clothing, unusual items are sometimes discarded as well. “Last year one suite donated an antique… Read More

Coveted Fellowship Goes to Divinity Student Rising second-year master of divinity candidate Anthony Sandusky will receive a $10,000 stipend, half to be used for educational expenses, the other half to assist in a self-designed ministry project. Sandusky, 23, is one of 20 fellows recently selected by The Fund for… Read More

For a university that claims just one national championship to its name, Vanderbilt certainly has a national stage when it comes to alumni sports writers. ESPN, The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post, and the sports website FanHouse all feature writers who honed their craft at Vanderbilt. Read More

http://vandygoestowar.library.vanderbilt.edu Memories of historic battles, hide-outs from the Nazis, and campus war relief projects are preserved through the Vandy Goes to War oral history project, which can be heard on the Jean and Alexander Heard Library’s website. The length of interviews varies from… Read More

Vanderbilt University School of Nursing is pioneering the use of smart phones as teaching tools. The school is one of the first in the nation to use a new application that transforms wireless devices, such as phones, iPod Touch and laptops, into classroom response devices for enhanced learning. “Students in… Read More

Gallo Two Vanderbilt undergraduates had the rare opportunity in April to present their research findings about the influence of patronage on presidential appointments and government performance at the 2010 Midwest Political Science Association Conference. Nick Gallo, a political science major who graduated in May, and Gabe Horton, a rising senior… Read More

Cross-country biker Bob Ostrowe has resumed cycling after a 2006 crash. “Hope I die before I get old,” rocker Pete Townsend wrote in “My Generation,” a song that became an anthem for baby boomers. Now that most boomers are getting old, emergency room staffers are faced with a new phenomenon: Senior… Read More

The U.S. health-care community is steadily moving into the digital age, shifting medical records from paper to electronic information systems. This movement raises serious concerns about security and privacy of patients’ medical information. In an attempt to put these concerns to rest, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services… Read More

Just six years have passed since Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital opened its doors at Vanderbilt, but already the facility has outgrown its space. Hospital officials in June announced plans for a multiphase, multiyear expansion project with an estimated total cost of $250 million. The Phase 1 expansion, with a price tag… Read More

Morton-Young Nashville activist, scholar and author Tommie Morton-Young received the Distinguished Alumna Award from Peabody College of education and human development during Commencement ceremonies May 14. Morton-Young earned her master of arts degree in library science in 1955, becoming the first African American to graduate from George Peabody College for Teachers,… Read More

An international consortium of autism researchers, including two from Vanderbilt, has reported a significant advance in unraveling the genetics of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Reporting in the June 9 issue of the journal Nature, the researchers compared the DNA obtained from nearly 1,000 people with ASD to nearly 1,300 matched… Read More

Researching the link between diabetes and schizophrenia are (from left) Aurelio Galli, Sabrina Robertson, Kevin Niswender and Michael Siuta. Defects in insulin action that occur in diabetes and obesity could directly contribute to psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia. Vanderbilt researchers have discovered a molecular link between impaired insulin signaling in the brain… Read More

Discovery of a new super-heavy element sheds light on the basic organization of matter and strengthens the likelihood that still more massive elements may form an “island of stability”— a cluster of stable super-heavy elements that could form novel materials with exotic and as-yet-unimagined scientific and practical applications. Vanderbilt physicist Joe Hamilton… Read More

  Reading and writing have become essential skills for almost every job, yet the majority of students do not read or write well enough to meet grade-level demands. A report co-authored by Vanderbilt researchers Steve Graham and Michael Hebert finds that while the two skills are closely connected, writing is… Read More

Early press materials for the Oct. 31 concert by the Blair Percussion VORTEX are issued with a tongue-in-cheek warning: “Don’t ENTER THE VORTEX if you’re afraid of the dark.” Members of Blair Percussion VORTEX, shown during their spring concert, must think like actors and move like dancers while playing various percussion… Read More

The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China (2009, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press) by Jay Taylor, BA’52 Chiang Kai-shek set the stage for Taiwan’s evolution of a Chinese model of democratic modernization. Drawing on Chinese sources including Chiang’s diaries, Taylor provides penetrating insight into the dynamics of… Read More

Eva Harth’s method for targeted drug delivery relies on relatively simple chemistry, making commercial production more viable. Imagine treating cancerous tumors by filling tiny sponges with drugs, attaching special chemical “linkers” that bond to the surface of tumor cells, and then injecting these sponges into the body. That’s the idea behind a nanosponge… Read More

A national literary journal, Nashville Review, was launched by graduate creative writing students at Vanderbilt in April. Nashville Review will be issued three times a year, in the spring, fall and summer. It will operate under a broad definition of literature, including fiction, poetry, comics, songs and films. Interviews with… Read More