Georgia State University News & Events

University Relations Tip Sheet - July 6, 2004

Professor: Hussein's war crimes won't overshadow prisoner abuse scandal
Saddam Hussein's recent appearance before an Iraqi tribunal has brought renewed attention to the former dictator's war crimes, but the focus on Saddam doesn't lessen the controversy surrounding the American military's treatment of Iraqi prisoners, says Tim Renick, associate professor of philosophy and director of Georgia State University's religious studies program. "The image Americans have of themselves is that we are more moral than other people - other nations go to war for selfish reasons, while we fight for freedom," says Renick, an expert in "just war" theory, and violence and religion. The prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq has had a dramatic "sobering effect" on that belief, he says. "The only moral argument left was that Saddam was a terrible tyrant, that we were going into Iraq as liberators to get rid of a torturing fiend," he says. "The prisoner abuse has forced Americans to question that reasoning." Contact him at 404/651-0723 or trenick@gsu.edu.

Expert: Amendment to ban same-sex marriage unconstitutional
A proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman is unconstitutional, says Neil Kinkopf, assistant professor of law at Georgia State University. It would undermine state sovereignty substantially by telling state judges and executive officers how they may construe state law, he says. "The Federal Marriage Amendment rejects (the) bedrock constitutional mechanism of interpretation," Kinkopf argues. "The proposal is driven by a deep distrust of judges and politicians." In addition, wording of the amendment would place same-sex couples in a "legal no-man's land," unintentionally robbing them of constitutional protections. Contact Kinkopf at 404/651-0892 or nkinkopf@gsu.edu.

Gender plays role in finding pain relief
Recent studies are confirming what many health-care workers have long suspected: men and women often react differently to the same painkilling drugs. Anne Murphy, an associate professor of biology at Georgia State University, is studying how and why men and women suffering from chronic pain respond differently to the analgesic - or painkilling - properties of opiates, a class of drugs used to manage severe physical discomfort. Murphy's study, conducted on rats, focused on the commonly prescribed drug morphine. "What we found was that at all doses tested, the males had significantly higher analgesic response than females did," says Murphy. Her data showed that the females needed more than double the amount of morphine than males to achieve the same pain relief. What that research suggests, says Murphy, is that morphine acts differently on male and female central nervous systems because of anatomical differences - not because of the way men and women metabolize the drug. Instead, Murphy's study hints that men's brains have more of the receptors that bind to the morphine than women's do. She also suspects that the circuitry that alerts the body to pain differs in men and women, and that specific brain cells in men may take a more active role than women's in blocking pain once an opiate has reached them. Contact Anne Murphy at 404/463-9661 or amurphy@gsu.edu.

Disputes over heirlooms can tear families apart
As people draft their wills, they need to think carefully about the distribution of any family heirlooms they possess, says Carolyn Curasi, assistant professor of marketing at Georgia State University. An object doesn't have to possess great monetary worth to spark disputes among heirs, says Curasi, who has conducted extensive research on cherished possessions. "I interviewed one family in which the mother had a large ceramic plate used at family gatherings," Curasi remembers. "It was understood that a specific daughter would inherit it and start holding the family celebrations at her house, but nothing was in writing and one of her brothers took it instead. As a result, family members stopped talking to each other and getting together. Sometimes hurt feelings over heirlooms last for the rest of people's lives." People should start discussing the distribution of heirlooms with their families long before they die, advises Curasi, who also has looked carefully at how older adults decide whom to give heirlooms. "They often look for a younger family member who also finds the object special," she explains. "They want to be sure that younger family members understand the stories behind the objects and pass them on." Contact Curasi at 404/651-1978 or ccurasi@gsu.edu.

Expert: International collaborations key to preventing terrorism
With officials on heightened alert for future terrorist attacks, law enforcement officers must look beyond their own borders to help prevent and combat terrorism, says a criminal justice professor at Georgia State University. "With the increased threat of international terrorism, the sharing of information, experience and expertise between law enforcement agencies is more important than ever before," says Robbie Friedmann. Looking at how other countries have responded to terrorism is a step toward eradicating violence, says Friedmann, founder of the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange, a program that provides senior law enforcement officers with professional training opportunities in policing techniques from peers abroad. A 13-member delegation from the Southeast recently returned from a two-week training program to study counterterrorism, emergency management and other types of policing strategies from Israeli police. Contact Friedmann at 404/651-3515 or cjmail@gsu.edu.

Happening at Georgia State University:

Rialto exhibits local artists in conjunction with National Black Arts Festival
Georgia State University's Rialto Center for the Performing Arts presents "Lost and Found: Women of the African Diaspora," with an opening reception from noon to 4 p.m. July 17. The exhibition runs through Sept. 17 in the Rialto's lobby and mezzanine on the corner of Forsyth and Luckie streets. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday or by appointment. The exhibition, in conjunction with the 2004 National Black Arts Festival, features the work of local artists Wendy E. Phillips and D.E. Johnson, and is curated by Cathy Byrd, gallery director for the Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design at Georgia State University. Works in this exhibition are provided courtesy of the Sandler Hudson Gallery. For information, contact the Rialto at 404/651-4727 or www.rialtocenter.org.

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