This is your brain on drugs: Or is it?
   In 1987, the image of two eggs frying in a pan became synonymous with the dangers of recreational drug use in one of the most influential TV commercials of the past two decades. Dramatic yes, but accurate? Today’s scientists are asking the question because in reality, the causes and effects of drug abuse are extraordinarily complex — especially in the adolescent brain. Drugs that affect adults one way often affect adolescents differently. What’s more, little is known about the long-term consequences of drug abuse in adolescents. Kyle Frantz, assistant professor of biology at Georgia State University, is exploring precisely how commonly abused drugs – including ecstasy, cocaine and nicotine -- affect adolescent brains and behavior. Frantz focuses on these drugs, as well as amphetamines and caffeine, all of which are known as psychomotor stimulants. For more information, contact Frantz at 404/651-1487 or kfrantz@gsu.edu.

Expert: Middle East media suffers American misperceptions
   Acts of terrorism and the war in Iraq have turned the world’s attention to the Middle East – and more people have begun to rely on the region’s own media for daily reports. Though Al Jazeera, the Arab satellite television news network, has rivaled the major networks in the United States in its coverage, many people still have misconceptions about the accuracy of Middle-Eastern media, says Mohammed el-Nawawy, an assistant professor of communication at Georgia State University. “The audiences in the Middle East are critical of their own media and always have been. They know when they are being fed propaganda,” says el-Nawawy, author of “Al Jazeera: How the Free Arab News Network Scooped the World and Changed the Middle East.” “It’s all in the cultural packaging of the news. The news looks different [to Americans] because the U.S. perspective has been more dominant in American media. But other nations have different perspectives, and if we listen to the other side then we can better understand where they’re coming from.” The Center for International Media Education, housed in Georgia State’s Department of Communication, recently announced the launch of the Journal of Middle East Media, a dual-language scholarly publication examining trends in Middle-Eastern media. Contact el-Nawawy at 404/651-2742 or melnawawy@gsu.edu.

Accidental effect: Higher cigarette prices correlate with consumer weight gain
   America’s campaign against cigarette smoking has unintentionally contributed to the obesity epidemic, says Inas Rashad, assistant professor of economics at Georgia State University. People who quit smoking because of higher cigarette taxes and prices often eat more as a result. Obesity costs more in annual medical expenditures (about $75 billion in 2003) than cigarette smoking because of the long and costly treatments for its complications, Rashad notes. “Our findings underscore the idea that social interaction can have unintended consequences,” she says. “Of course, we do not believe that people should start smoking to become thin, substituting one type of unhealthy behavior for another.” Increased participation by women in the labor force in recent decades also has unintentionally contributed to the obesity problem, she says. As time available for cooking has decreased, families have begun to eat more often at fast-food and full-service restaurants offering high-calorie foods. Contact Rashad at 404/651-4967 or irashad@gsu.edu.

Smart city growth requires legal nurturing
   Cities across the country are suffering from growing pains. Creeping suburbs are crowding out wildlife while increased traffic is clogging interstates and contaminating the environment. Georgia State University law professor Julian Juergensmeyer, a pioneer in the emerging field of growth-management law, researches how the legal system can respond to the need for better land-use planning and problems such as urban sprawl and traffic congestion. “We’ve gone wild on private-property rights when we really shouldn’t be considered the owners of land, just the custodians for future generations,” Juergensmeyer says. “We don’t have a land ethic that protects us from the problems of sprawl.” He adds that sprawl eventually solves itself by destroying the vitality of cities, leading people and businesses to relocate to greener pastures. “In the long run, development is profitable only if quality of life makes it sellable.” Contact Juergensmeyer at 404/651-2437 or jjuergensmeyer@gsu.edu.

Counselor: Life-and-death decisions best made by family, not courts
   Despite a lengthy legal battle, a courtroom may not be the best place to decide the future of Terri Schiavo, the Florida woman who has been hospitalized and in a persistent vegetative state for the past 14 years, says a Georgia State University counseling professor. “Life-and-death decisions are very personal and should best be made within the family, with the input of their physician,” says Karen Ripley, an assistant professor of counseling and expert on families coping with disability. Her parents want guardianship over Schiavo, who was severely brain-damaged after a fall at home, while her husband, backed by doctors who have testified she won’t recover, wants her feeding tube removed. Since the family members can’t agree, they may want to consider mediation and counseling to address the guilt and grief, rather than looking to a judge, says Ripley. “The best scenario is when family members can come to an agreement on what is best for the patient and then support each other in their mourning,” says Ripley. “It sounds as though this family was robbed of that peaceful outcome.” Contact her at 404/651-2488 or kripley@gsu.edu.

Happening at Georgia State University:

Political postcards, photographs on display at the Rialto
   Postcards and documentary photographs from artist Sheryl Oring’s Sept. 30 public performance “I Wish to Say” will be on exhibition at the Rialto Center for the Performing Arts this month. Sarah Barrick, documentary photographer for the project, will speak about her experience at the exhibit’s opening reception at 7 p.m. Oct. 7 in the Rialto Center lobby. In “I Wish to Say,” Oring sets up a portable office and takes dictation from passers-by, typing their comments on postcards to be sent to the president of the United States. For more information about the exhibition, which closes Nov. 5, contact Cathy Byrd, director of the Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design Gallery, at 404/651-0489 or cathybyrd@gsu.edu.

University Symphony Orchestra to perform Haydn, others
   The Georgia State University School of Music presents the University Symphony Orchestra in concert at 3 p.m. Oct. 10 at the Rialto Center for the Performing Arts. Under the direction of conductor Michael Palmer and graduate assistant conductor Andrea Botelho, the show features Haydn's Symphony No. 104, Harbison's Remembering Gatsby and Liszt's Les Preludes. Admission is free. For more, call 404/651-INFO.

Panel to discuss Russian art education
   Boris Stolyarov, director of the State Russian Museum Pedagogical Center, and Olga Nekrasova-Karateeva, chair of the St. Petersburg Children’s Arts Coordinating Council, will discuss Russian art-education programs and training followed by a question-and-answer session from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 11 in Veterans Memorial Hall on the first floor of Alumni Hall (30 Courtland Street). The event is sponsored by Georgia State University’s art education department. For more, contact Melody Milbrandt at 404/651-1708 or milbrandt@gsu.edu.

Rialto Series opens with sounds of Brazil
   The 2004-05 Rialto Series opens in a burst of raw energy, brilliant color and infectious rhythm as the Balé Folclórico da Bahia returns to Atlanta. Under the artistic direction of José Carlos Arandiba, Balé Folclórico da Bahia has earned a prestigious international reputation that is reflected in the enthusiastic response of the public and critics alike. The 38-member troupe of dancers, musicians and singers performs a repertory based on folkloric dances of the entertainers’ native Bahia in northern Brazil. Shows are at 8 p.m. Oct. 15-16 at the Rialto Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets, ranging from $32-$56, are available in person at the Rialto Box Office, by phone at 404/651-4727, or on the Web at www.rialtocenter.org.

New-music ensemble continues 10th season
   Atlanta new-music ensemble neoPhonia continues its 10th anniversary season at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15 in Georgia State University’s Kopleff Recital Hall (corner of Peachtree Center Avenue and Gilmer Street). Under the artistic direction of Nickitas J. Demos, coordinator of composition at Georgia State, the program features works by Elliot Carter, Aaron Copland and Kari Henrik Juusela. Admission is free. For more, call 404/651-INFO.

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.

©2004 Georgia State University