Trick or treat? Filmmakers use cues to manipulate viewers' emotions
   Why is it that some movies make us laugh, others make us cry and a few give us nightmares? Georgia State University researcher Greg Smith, an expert on how films affect our emotions, recently wrote a book about how directors use techniques like specific musical cues and camera angles to feed viewers' feelings. "Understanding that there are basic, fundamental properties of emotions that hold true for almost all people has ramifications on how films are structured," says Smith, who can offer examples of movies that evoke powerful waves of fear, sadness, anger and other emotions, and the visual and audio manipulations behind them. Just in time for Halloween, he's even compiled a list of 10 offbeat scary movies. For more, contact Smith at 770-490-6758 or gsmith@gsu.edu.

Universities, community groups offer safe Halloween activities for kids
   Most adults fondly remember knocking on neighbors' doors as children in search of candy on Halloween night. Today, a growing number of community groups, businesses and cities are offering safer alternatives for kids. "Children need a safe place to go trick-or-treating and not all parents feel comfortable with them going out in their neighborhood," said Lovell Lemons, director of community-service learning at Georgia State University. "We still want them to experience the fun of Halloween, but in a safe environment on our campus." The Office of Community Service-Learning and Georgia State's Greek student organizations will host a haunted house and other activities for Atlanta-area children from 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 31 in the University Center. For more information, contact Lemons at 404-463-9042 or llemons@gsu.edu.

Mad for Halloween: October holiday ranks second in consumer spending
   Holiday spending around Halloween now ranks second only to Christmas. Georgia State University marketing professor Kenneth Bernhardt can offer perspective on the market forces driving the scary holiday's popularity. "It's one of the few family-oriented events that kids and adults both participate in," Bernhardt says. He notes that adults often are just as excited about Halloween as children, buying candy, donning costumes and attending parties. "It's a fun time because parties tend to be wilder than normal. You get behind a mask, and you can do all kinds of things you wouldn't normally do. People are in escapist mode," he says. Contact Bernhardt at 404-651-2740 or kbernhardt@gsu.edu.

Biologist studies why West Nile kills some, not others
   Margo Brinton, a Georgia State University biologist whose laboratory first identified the mouse gene that confers resistance to West Nile virus-induced disease, will continue to unravel mysteries about this deadly microorganism with a $1.15 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. Previous research has shown that animals and birds in which the virus replicates at high levels develop encephalitis and die, whereas individuals in which the virus replicates at lower levels don't develop symptoms and clear the infection effectively. With the new grant, Brinton will study how West Nile virus replication is regulated in host cells and what role they play in determining how efficiently the virus replicates. The new work also will identify targets for antiviral therapy. Contact Brinton at 404-651-3113 or biomab@panther.gsu.edu.

Happening at Georgia State University:

Seminar: No Child Left Behind Act
   Georgia State University's College of Education and College of Law will hold a seminar on the effectiveness of the federal No Child Left Behind Act from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Nov. 6 in the Urban Life Auditorium (Urban Life Building, 140 Decatur St.). "No Child Left Behind: Good Policy or Good Politics?" will feature speakers Tom Cox, an attorney with the firm Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan; Asa Hilliard, a Georgia State professor of educational policy studies; and Davis Nelson, director of policy for the Georgia School Council Institute. Signed into law by President Bush in 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act was designed to raise school standards and accountability. The seminar is free and open to the public. For more information, call Alleen Deutsch at 404-651-2142.

Georgia State Leads: Business/Law is a quarterly e-mail tip sheet from the Department of University Relations. For more information about the publication, contact Beth Flannigan at 404-651-3576 or bflannigan@gsu.edu.

Don't see what you're looking for? Call University Relations at 404-651-3025 for fast access to faculty experts and university news. After hours and on weekends, contact Betsy Robertson, assistant director, via pager at 404-655-3456.

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