Rutgers News Center

Rutgers plans to bring “ocean observatory” to K–12 classrooms

Ocean scientists are working with fellow scientists to develop a “Networked Ocean World” that will bring the newest wave of under-the-sea exploration data and discoveries to young students in their classrooms.

With a five-year, $2.6 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Rutgers scientists, who pioneered the use of ocean-observing systems and built one of the nation’s first ocean observatories, will bring what they have learned to K–12 classrooms in a collaborative project with scientists and educators at Liberty Science Center and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts.

The grant will enable scientists to repackage real-time data provided by ocean observatories into visually appealing information accessible to elementary- and secondary-school educators, students, and the general public. The funding is offered through the NSF’s Centers for Ocean Science Excellence in Education, which supports the Networked Ocean World project.

“There’s never been a better time for ocean scientists to share their knowledge with the rest of the community,” said Scott Glenn, professor of marine science at Rutgers’ Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences. “The fact is, scientists’ entire approach to studying the oceans has changed over the past 10 years or so, but the public’s perception of that knowledge and how we come by it has not changed, and this grant will help us change that.”

Scientists and educators at the three institutions will create an online community center where they can develop lessons and curricula and share information about what works and what doesn’t in translating scientific data.

London’s Financial Times ranks Rutgers Business School among the world’s best Executive M.B.A. programs

Rutgers Business School ranked highly in the global ranking of Executive M.B.A. (E.M.B.A.) programs, published in the Financial Times in October.

The average alumni salary three years after graduation places Rutgers Business School at No. 2 in the nation among E.M.B.A. programs offered by U.S. public universities. Rutgers Business School alumni reported a staggering 84 percent increase in salary since graduation.

Out of 90 E.M.B.A. programs that the Financial Times named as the best worldwide, Rutgers Business School is ranked No. 27 in the world, placing it in the company of programs such as those offered by Cornell University (No. 25), NYU (No. 21), Georgetown University (No. 35), and Thunderbird (No. 37).

“This recognition is truly rewarding because it reflects the exceptional asset base here at Rutgers Business School – from our top-notch faculty members, whose research and teaching have contributed to this ranking, to our students’ enormous success in the workforce,” said Michael Cooper, dean of Rutgers Business School.

Rutgers Business School’s E.M.B.A. program is designed for the highly motivated professional with at least 10 years work experience who has aspirations for accelerated career growth. 

– Bridget Daley

One year after N.J. civil unions law, opinions on gay marriage are unchanged

As the state marks the one-year anniversary of a New Jersey Supreme Court decision ordering the State Legislature to extend the legal rights of married couples to gay and lesbian couples, the public remains evenly divided over whether those rights should include marriage.

A Rutgers–Eagleton Poll of 1,002 New Jersey adults, conducted October 18 through October 23, found that 48 percent favor allowing gay marriage, while 45 percent are opposed. Given the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, the results are indistinguishable from a Rutgers–Eagleton Poll conducted in June 2006 in which 50 percent supported gay marriage and 44 percent were opposed.

Public opinion on civil unions also was unchanged in the latest survey, with 65 percent of

New Jersey adults favoring civil unions and 30 percent opposed. The June 2006 survey also found that 65 percent favored and 30 percent opposed civil unions. Attitudes on the topic remained consistent even in the wake of New Jersey’s new civil unions law, which the State Legislature enacted in response to the State Supreme Court ruling. The state began allowing civil unions in February.

In general, adults ages 18 to 29 differed from their older counterparts by being more supportive of gay marriage. Vercellotti pointed out that differences in opinion may be generational, and that public attitudes could shift toward greater support for gay marriage over time.

– Tim Vercellotti

World-renowned Rutgers neuroscientist Wise Young recognized

Wise Young, the Richard H. Shindell Professor of Neuroscience and founding director of Rutgers’ W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, is the recipient of the Melvyn H. Motolinsky Research Foundation’s 2007 Distinguished Service Award.

The award was presented at the foundation’s annual meeting October 28. Clifton R. Lacy, president of the Motolinsky Foundation, said that Young was selected to receive the award because of his groundbreaking research in the treatment of spinal cord injury as well as his passionate support of stem cell research. “We also recognize the compassion and caring he shows for individuals with spinal cord injury and their families,” Lacy said.

Young is a world leader in the area of spinal cord injury and treatment. He is an outspoken advocate for stem cell research, a potential source of therapies for damaged spinal cord tissue and other devastating conditions, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.

“I am truly honored to be among such eminent recipients of the Distinguished Service Award as Mason Gross, Denton Cooley, and Clifton Lacy,” Young said. “To me, this award is not just an honor but recognition that scientists do science not just for its own sake but for the people who will benefit from that science.”

The Motolinsky Foundation was established as a living memorial to Melvyn H. Motolinsky, an outstanding New Brunswick lawyer who died of leukemia at age 25 in 1969. The foundation’s $1.75 million endowment supports research into leukemia and other blood-related diseases.

– Joseph Blumberg

Rutgers’ Center for State Constitutional Studies celebrates first decade of developing constitutions across nation, world

What do Myanmar, Brazil, Cyprus, and Russia have in common with New Jersey, Alabama, Colorado, and Pennsylvania?

They share a common resource: the Center for State Constitutional Studies (CSCS) at Rutgers–Camden, which provides expert research and consultative services to define states’ powers.

Since its launch in 1997, the Rutgers–Camden center has served as a resource for the N.J. state government on property tax reform, advised numerous states on how to update and revise their constitutions, and helped countries like Brazil, South Africa, Cyprus, Spain, Russia, Myanmar, and Mexico understand the importance of the rights and powers of subnational units.

The Rutgers–Camden center is working with Colorado on matters related to updating that state’s constitution.

“The study of American state constitutions and subnational constitutions is particularly important because these constitutions structure the operation of those governments that most directly affect the lives of ordinary citizens,” says G. Alan Tarr, CSCS director and a professor of political science at Rutgers–Camden.

“Particularly in ethnically divided societies, subnational constitutions provide an avenue for recognizing the distinctive perspectives of groups that are minorities nationally but majorities within subnational units, thereby providing an opportunity for permitting diversity without courting secession. Also, because American state constitutions have changed dramatically over time, they are a window into understanding how American politics have changed over time.”

Recently, Tarr and Robert Williams, associate director of the center and a distinguished professor at the School of Law–Camden, traveled to the U.S. Virgin Islands to talk to prospective delegates who will write the territory’s constitution. They have given presentations in Italy and Greece in an effort to bring their knowledge to an international audience.

For more information, go to camlaw.rutgers.edu/statecon.

– Michael Sepanic