Proposed changes to social studies curriculum inadequate, says professor
   Although Georgia's Department of Education is making efforts to improve student learning, the proposed changes to the K-12 social-studies curriculum are inadequate, says a Georgia State University professor. "While the goal of improving the social-studies curriculum is a worthy one, as it's written, the proposed standards fall short of providing a world-class curriculum to our students," says Cliff Kuhn, an associate professor of history. The proposal, which calls for eliminating much of world and U.S. history at the high-school level, among other changes, offers students a "narrow vision of history" and leaves them ill-prepared for college history courses, Kuhn adds. Georgia State's Department of History has taken the lead among Georgia's colleges and universities in challenging the proposed standards, and has adopted a resolution highlighting some of the omissions and discrepancies in the state's Georgia, U.S. and world history curriculum. Contact Kuhn at 404/463-9204 or ckuhn@gsu.edu.

Parents won't get extra credit for kids at tax time
   Parents who are counting on receiving the full child-tax credit on their income tax returns might be in for a rude awakening, says Sally Wallace, associate professor of economics at Georgia State University. That's because they received an advance check last spring for the federal government's $400 increase of the credit, which went from $600 to $1,000. Wallace suspects many taxpayers will attempt to take the full credit, forgetting that they already received some of it as part of U.S. President George Bush's economic stimulus plan. "We're all frequently so short-sighted," Wallace says. "The money comes, it goes, and it's gone." Wallace doubts the Internal Revenue Service will punish many taxpayers who attempt to take the full credit, classifying it as a math error instead of an attempt to fool the government. "It's going to be a lot of work for the IRS to clean this up," says Wallace, who's available to discuss a wide range of individual income tax issues. Contact Wallace at 404/651-3990 or swallace@gsu.edu.

Professor: Too much information could impede Web users
   Though Web surfers often look to the Internet as their first source for answers - whether for school assignments or to self-diagnose a medical problem - too much information could do them a disservice, says a Georgia State University expert. "We're always searching for the best resources in the least amount of time," says Edward Lomax, an assistant professor of instructional technology. But with the growth of the Web, users often spend more time sorting through bad information than getting the help they need, Lomax says. "The Internet helps and hinders the information-seeking process - it can provide more resources, but if they're not well-defined, there's a lot of useless information to sift through," says Lomax, who teaches in the College of Education's library media technology program. "In those cases, a good tip from a friend can be more useful and faster than a Google search." Contact him at 404/651-0188 or elomax@gsu.edu.

Study: Stock options fuel executives' risk-taking behavior
   Corporate chiefs are more likely to take risks if much of their compensation consists of stock options based on stock price, Georgia State University researchers have discovered. Naveen Daniel and Lalitha Naveen, assistant professors of finance, found that CEOs whose personal compensation is significantly affected by the stock market tend to make riskier policy choices - such as investing more in research and development than in property and equipment, focusing on fewer lines of business, and raising debt levels. Critics believe stock-options-as-salary has generated a culture of irresponsible greed, encouraging corporate managers to push accounting rules to the limit - resulting in financial statements built on sandy foundations. But despite the downfall of companies like Enron and Worldcom, supporters of stock options say they give employees a financial stake in their companies' success, which ultimately benefits all shareholders. "The idea behind providing options as compensation is to increase the urge to take on more risk," Naveen says. "It's not necessarily a bad thing." Contact Daniel at 404/651-2691 or nav@gsu.edu. Contact Naveen at 404/651-2632 or lalitha@gsu.edu.

Copyright act opens door to corporate abuse
   Enacted in 1998 to halt Internet piracy, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act can be abused by companies as an anti-competition tool, says law professor Michael Landau of Georgia State University. Intended to prohibit software that enables consumers to bypass copy protections on creative media such as movies and music, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's language is so broad that it could apply to many other areas, Landau says. He points to a 2003 federal court case in Kentucky in which Lexmark successfully invoked the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to stop a company from selling printer cartridges equipped with chips that fool Lexmark printers into accepting them. Lexmark forces consumers to buy its own printer cartridges, and Landau believes that moves beyond a copyright issue into an antitrust one. "Congress probably didn't intend for legislation meant to address piracy to be used to allow companies to restrain trade," says Landau, who expects more suits like Lexmark's. He believes Congress should revisit and revise the law. "If you let the courts do it, there's going to ambiguity," he says. Contact Landau at 404/651-2084 or mlandau@gsu.edu.

Women with guns part of American culture
   From real-life characters Annie Oakley and Bonnie Parker to fictional ones such as video game heroine Lara Croft and "Terminator 2" protagonist Sarah Connor, armed women have long been a part of American culture and folklore. Georgia State University's Nancy Floyd, an associate professor of photography in the Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design, is completing a book, "She's Got a Gun," examining how armed women have positioned themselves within or against the mainstream culture of their time. "Armed women appear throughout our history - in pop culture, literature, criminology, sociology, military and police history, advertising, social history, and art," says Floyd. "By examining the history of female gun ownership primarily through these images, I'm outlining how the myth and reality of armed women have informed America's collective imagination." For more, contact Floyd at 404/651-0493 or nancy@gsu.edu.

Researchers invent infrared detector with applications from Earth to outer space
   Physicist Unil Perera of Georgia State University and his colleagues at the University of New Mexico have created an infrared detector that can be used to detect land mines and study stars, among other things. The new detector can sense the radiation of multiple wavelengths - from reflected starlight to thermal emissions to laser radiation. Most detectors only sense the radiation of a single wavelength. Perera's detector is the thickness of six human hairs, with an active region about .05 the thickness of a human hair. The active region is an indium arsenide "dot" contained in an indium arsenide "well" and surrounded by a gallium arsenide barrier. Its unique structure creates different energy-level electrons that detect radiation of various wavelengths. For more information, contact Perera at 404/651-2709 or uperera@gsu.edu.

Happening at Georgia State University:

Documentary project premieres in Atlanta
   The Mirror Project, a 12-year-old social-documentary project founded in Boston by Colombia native Roberto Arévalo, makes its Atlanta premiere March 17 at Georgia State University with a screening and discussion of three films. Arévalo, who recently relocated his project to Georgia State, will present three films representing the philosophy, methodology and development of the Mirror Project at 7 p.m. March 17 in the Student Center Speaker's Auditorium (corner of Courtland and Gilmer streets). Twelve-year-old Daniel DeLeon created the first film, "Carlos' Way," in the Somerville Mystic Housing Developments in Boston, taking his audience on a journey of humor and pride as he shares his family history and neighborhood. The second film, "Porvenir," was shot by Arévalo in his native Colombia. Porvenir, which means "future," is the name of a rural mountain village on the banks of the Magdalena River in Colombia. "The uneven flow of the river reflects the pulse of its 400 inhabitants," says Arévalo. "There, a vibrant yet fragile community thrives against all odds." Finally, "La Vision" by Arévalo will be making its inaugural appearance. In this film, Arévalo turns the camera on those accustomed to being behind it - three Georgia State photography students. For more, contact Arévalo at 404/651-0574 or visit www.mirrorproject.org.

University to host seminar on diverse weddings
   Georgia State University's Office of Student Life and Leadership/Intercultural Relations and Theta Nu Xi Sorority will present "A Diversified Look at Weddings" at 6 p.m. March 18 in the Student Center Speaker's Auditorium (corner of Courtland and Gilmer streets). A panel of local experts will provide perspectives on weddings and cultural rituals, focusing on general trends, interfaith marriages and the wedding customs of Hispanic and Asian cultures. A reception will immediately follow the program, with music by the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 404/463-9031.

Lecturer to discuss racial achievement gaps in education
   Harvard University's Ronald F. Ferguson will discuss "The Racial Gap in Education Outcomes: Confronting the Challenge" at 7:15 p.m. April 1 in the Student Center Speaker's Auditorium at Georgia State University. Ferguson, a public-policy lecturer in Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the first guest speaker to appear as part of the new Dan E. Sweat Lecture series, sponsored by the Fiscal Research Center in Georgia State University's Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. Ferguson's research on racial achievement gaps has appeared in publications of the National Research Council, the Brookings Institution, the U.S. Department of Education and the Educational Research Service. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Dorie Taylor at 404/651-4342.

Georgia State Leads is a biweekly e-mail publication from the Department of University Relations. For more information about the publication or to sign up to receive Georgia State Leads, 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.

©2003 Georgia State University