Tipsheet

President Barack Obama’s declining approval ratings increase the challenges of keeping his once-lauded “team of rivals” in place through 2012, according to David E. Lewis, professor of political science at Vanderbilt University. Read More

In light of the charges against Bishop Eddie Long, Vanderbilt sociologist Richard Pitt is available for comment to media. Pitt’s research interests include the intersection of sexual identity and religion. He looks specifically at homosexuality and the black church in his papers “Killing the Messenger: Gay Black Men’s Negotiation… Read More

Education experts from the Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development are available for back-to-school interviews. Peabody was named the No. 1 graduate school of education in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for the second consecutive year in 2010. For more information, go to www.peabody.vanderbilt.edu. Read More

Vanderbilt political science professors John Geer and Bruce Oppenheimer are available to speak about the Tennessee gubernatorial race. Read More

The worst environmental disaster to hit the U.S. occurred in part because of BP’s institutional arrogance, pushing a technology beyond its limits, and basic communication failures, according to Vanderbilt University Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Mark Abkowitz, an emergency preparedness and response expert. Read More

More than 3,400 students will receive degrees during Vanderbilt’s Commencement ceremonies beginning 9 a.m. May 14 on Alumni Lawn. Here are two of the many extraordinary students in the Class of 2010. Read More

As the Obama administration researches candidates to succeed retiring Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens, Vanderbilt experts are ready to weigh in on Justice Stevens, the Supreme Court and the list of potential nominees. Read More

President Obama is now debating whether to have the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, prosecuted in a military tribunal, despite Attorney General Eric Holder's plan to try Mohammed in civilian court. Read More

Vanderbilt experts David Lewis, John Geer and Thomas Schwartz are available to discuss the one-year anniversary of the Obama presidency and his Jan. 27 State of the Union address. Read More

Haiti expert Colin Dayan is available to discuss the aftermath of the devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti that has killed tens of thousands and affected 3 million Haitians. Dayan, whose mother and other family members are Haitian, spent the first two decades of her career studying Haiti and is the author of Haiti, History, and the Gods. She can speak on most aspects of Haitian history, including the theory brought up by evangelist Pat Robertson that a pact with the devil by Haitian slaves in 1791 is responsible for the disaster. Read More

Three years ago, when the International Astronomical Union demoted Pluto to dwarf planet status, the unpopular decision was based on personal opinions and professional politics, not on rigorous scientific criteria that can clearly differentiate planets from lesser bodies, points out Vanderbilt astronomer David Weintraub. In the next decade, however, the amount of knowledge that we have about Pluto and another dwarf planet, Ceres, will change dramatically and this new information may affect our views of these objects and their status in the solar system as asteroids, dwarf planets or planets. Read More

Vanderbilt and Peabody faculty are available to offer perspective on education issues and other current topics for the year 2010. Read More

Vanderbilt University faculty are available to offer perspective on business issues and other current topics for the year 2010. Read More

As you consider year-in-review stories and look ahead to the trends of 2010, Vanderbilt University faculty are available to offer perspective on these and other topics. mailto:bruce.barry@vanderbilt.edu Read More

Luke Froeb, a Vanderbilt University business professor and former Chief Economist at the FTC said he sees very little horizontal overlap in the NBC/Comcast merger. But that wouldn't necessarily stop the Federal Communications Commission from asking for relief to assuage competitive and diversity concerns, said Froeb. Read More

A leading international law expert cautions that the troop surge in Afghanistan must be accompanied by a concurrent improvement in the nation's system of justice, now plagued by lawlessness and graft. Read More

A Vanderbilt professor who specializes in death penalty cases is available as a source for the coming trial of professed 9/11 “mastermind” Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others implicated in the nation's deadliest terrorist attack. Read More

Marketing experts at Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management are available as sources for holiday shopping stories on a range of topics from the impact of social networking on consumer decision-making to marketing radically new products. Read More

Governments across the country are grappling with thorny legal issues as they ponder the most significant reforms to marijuana laws in decades. A Vanderbilt law professor who previously has commented on marijuana law issues in news stories is available for interviews. Read More

William Turner, former Obama health care advisor, Betts Chair and Professor of Education and Human Development, Peabody College of Education and Human Development, is among several Vanderbilt professors available to comment on health care reform. Read More