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Discoveries: U research Religious Faith May Be Genetic In the nature-versus-nurture debate--whether our genes or our environment dominate in making us who we are--research out of the Minnesota Center for Twin and Adoption Research at the University of Minnesota has played a central role for more than 25 years. Starting with landmark studies of twins reared apart, Minnesota researchers have discovered remarkable levels of genetic influence on psychological traits and social attitudes. The newest University study on twins finds that degree of religious faith appears to be tied to genetics. Further, it concludes that the genetic influence grows in adulthood. Behavioral psychology Ph.D. student Laura Koenig (M.A. '04) reviewed lengthy surveys from the early 1990s in the center's database. Though the surveys dealt with parenting behavior of twins, Koenig discovered that some included nine questions that dealt directly with religious faith, including about church attendance, prayer, religious reading, and more open-ended questions. Respondents who were asked the religiousness questions (more than 250 sets of male twins born from 1961 to 1964) were also asked to answer the same questions for when they were children. At her computer in a cramped, windowless lab she shares with other Ph.D. students in Elliot Hall, Koenig sifted through the responses and saw patterns begin to emerge: Upbringing played a large part in determining respondents' degree of faith early in life. But as respondents became adults, genetics became a dominant factor, either strengthening or reducing the role of religion in their lives. Koenig drew her conclusions based on the fact that identical twins, who share all their inherited genes, have similar degrees of faith in adulthood, while fraternal twins, who share half their inherited genes, tend to deviate in religiousness as they become adults. Koenig's analysis was published in the April issue of the Journal of Personality. Understanding which traits and attitudes are influenced by genetics can help psychologists, parents, teachers, and individuals learn how to work with genetic predispositions, Koenig asserts. Plus, she says, simply understanding why people do certain things is an important step in understanding human interaction as more than “a mass of confusing and chaotic behaviors.” Koenig has a natural interest in the topic: Her identical twin, Anne, is in graduate school for social psychology at Northwestern, and the girls were raised in a strongly religious family. “The findings didn't cause me to question my faith at all,” Laura Koenig says. “It makes sense that parental influence would decrease as you move through adolescence and start finding your own way.” -C.C.S. Viagra and Vision Loss University doctors have linked permanent vision loss in seven men to the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra. The affected men each had anunusually constricted opening where blood vessels and nerves attach to the eyeball as well as at least one riskfactor for arteriosclerosis, sometimescalled hardening of the arteries. Seven similar vision-loss cases had earlier been related to Viagra, and numerous men have reported temporary color changes intheir vision after taking the drug. A Smoke Is a Smoke A University of Minnesota Cancer Center study found no significant difference in levels of two known carcinogens in the urine of 175 smokers of regular, light, and ultra-light cigarettes. The current method of classifying cigarettes as regular or light is to measure the amount of tar and nicotine in the smoke, but the U findings suggest that smokers absorb the same amount of cancer causing agents no matter what they smoke. Gay-Friendly Feelings In two studies, students who watched several episodes of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy or Six Feet Under (in which a character came out as gay) showed markedly decreased anti-gay prejudice. Communications professor Edward Schiappa's “parasocial contact hypothesis” contends that most viewers treat TV characters as real and process positive interactions as if they had been with real people. *** Meet the Regents The Minnesota Legislature elected two new members to the University of Minnesota Board of Regents this spring and reappointed two others. The 12-member board, composed of one representative from each of the state's eight congressional districts and four at-large members (one of whom must be a student when elected), is the University's governing body. Regents serve six-year terms. Steven Hunter (B.A. '73) At-large representative; elected in 2005 Secretary/treasurer of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, Hunter previously served as the political action director in Minnesota for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. He lives in Woodbury. “I've spent most of my career in the labor movement, working to improve the lives of average working people,” Hunter says. “While many of the members of the unions I represent have not had the opportunity to attend an institution of higher education, they are almost unanimous in sharing the dream that their children will have that opportunity. I share their vision of a future when all of our children have access to affordable, quality higher education. I hope to be their voice on the Board of Regents.” David Larson (B.A. '66) Congressional district 3; elected in 2005 Larson, an executive vice president for Cargill, serves on the board of directors for the University of Minnesota Foundation. He lives in Wayzata. “I was actually persuaded [to seek a regent seat] by a number of friends who also have strong attachments to the University,” Larson says. “One of the things they convinced me of was that I have a lot of experience building and transforming large, complex, global organizations, and the University is a large, complex, global organization. Not a lot of people have had opportunities to have those experiences; I know a fair amount about how you create change in such organizations. I think I have some insights there and hopefully I can make a difference.” Anthony Baraga (M.D. '65), chair; Congressional district 8; elected in 1999 and 2005 Baraga, retired radiologist and president of Medical Imaging North, was previously chief of staff at Hibbing General Hospital, Chisholm Memorial Hospital, and Mesabi Regional Medical Center-University. He lives in Side Lake. Patricia Simmons, vice chair Congressional district 1; elected in 2003 Simmons is a physician and a professor of pediatrics at the Mayo Clinic and an author and lecturer in her field. She lives in Rochester. Clyde Allen, Jr., Congressional district 7; elected in 2003 Now retired, Allen most recently served as treasurer and vice president for business affairs for Concordia College and as commissioner of Minnesota's Department of Revenue. He lives in Moorhead. Peter Bell, Congressional district 5; appointed in 2002, elected in 2003 Bell, chair of the Metropolitan Council, served on the transition teams for governors Jesse Ventura and Tim Pawlenty and on the boards of numerous social and civic organizations. He lives in Minneapolis. Frank Berman (B.S. '62, J.D. '65), At-large representative; appointed in 2001, elected in 2003 Berman has practiced law for more than 35 years in business-related litigation, business transactions, resolutions of disputes, and other commercial matters. He lives in Edina. Dallas Bohnsack (B.S. '60), Congressional district 2; elected in 1999 and 2005 Bohnsack, a self-employed farmer since 1960, is a former Scott County commissioner. He lives in New Prague. John Frobenius (M.A. '69), Congressional district 6; elected in 2003 Frobenius, a retired hospital administrator, served most recently as co-president for the CentraCare Health System in St. Cloud. He lives in St. Cloud. Richard McNamara (B.A. '56), At-large representative; appointed in 2001, elected in 2003 McNamara is chairman and owner of holding company Activar, Inc., and serves on the board of directors for the University of Minnesota Foundation. He lives in Edina. David Metzen (B.S. '64, M.A. '70, Ed.D. '73), Congressional district 4; elected in 1997 and 2003 Retired superintendent of the South St. Paul School District, Metzen is a leadership consultant and a director of American Bank. He lives in South St. Paul. Lakeesha Ransom (M.A. '03), At-large representative; appointed in 2001, elected in 2003 Ransom is a Ph.D. candidate in human resource development and a graduate research assistant in the Office for Multicultural and Academic Affairs at the University. She lives in Minneapolis. *** Technology Engine If the University of Minnesota is an economic engine, the Institute of Technology is the fuel. A new survey of 15,000 IT grads has found that more than 4,000 alumni-founded companies are active today, two-thirds of them operating in Minnesota. Many of the companies are in high-tech fields like biotechnology, communications, software, electronics, and engineering, although others are in far-flung fields like health care and hospitality. Among the findings: * Firms founded by IT grads employ 550,000 people worldwide and generate $90 billion in revenue. * Minnesota-based companies founded by IT grads employ more than 175,000 people and generate $45 billion in annual revenue. * 3,024 respondents reported founding at least one company; 148 reported to have founded more than one. * 60 percent of the firms were founded in the past 10 years. * 19 firms on the StarTribune newspaper's list of the largest 100 public companies in Minnesota were founded by IT alumni. Overheard on Campus “There has been an increase that, I think, one cannot deny. And there appears to be a certain part of this that is man and his putting certain pollutants into the atmosphere.” -Donald Baker (Ph.D. '49), professor emeritus in the University's Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, who has been recording temperatures 42 feet below ground in St. Paul for more than 40 years and detected an increase of more than 3 degrees. Baker has until recently been skeptical of the global warming theory. “I understand the schools' perspective. It's easier to avoid hot-button topics than confront them head-on, but they have no more basis backing away from this than someone who would come in and discuss the laws of physics.” -Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior professor Robert Zink (B.S. '77) on the decision by schools in Monticello, Minnesota, to cancel presentations by Lisa Westberg Peters (B.A. '74), author of Our Family Tree, a children's book on evolution. A Shifting Student Body If present trends continue, by 2010 Minnesota will not be producing enough college graduates to meet the total workforce demands of replacing retirees and filling new positions. This is according to “Knocking at the College Door,” projections of high school graduates by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). WICHE also reports that the number of Minnesota high school graduates will decline by 10 percent by 2013. While numbers of white students will decline almost 20 percent by 2013, numbers of students of color will increase almost 50 percent. By 2018, enrollments are projected to rise 7 percent from 2013. The projected enrollment gain will occur almost exclusively through increases in numbers of students of color. By 2018, about one-third of all high school graduates in Minnesota will be students of color. | |||||||||||||
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