Interview with Sam and Carol Shapiro by Andrea L’Hommedieu

Biographical NoteSamuel Shapiro was born in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, on August 26, 1927. His parents were Maurice and Anna (Silver) Shapiro. His father was born in the Ukraine and his mother in Lithuania. He spent two years in the Navy, then attended the University of Pittsburg on the G.I. Bill, graduating in 1952. He married and moved to Waterville, Maine, in 1953 and served as Maine Democratic Party treasurer for thirteen years. He also ran several furniture stores with his father-in-law. He served as Maine state treasurer for 16 years (1980-1996) during the Brennan, McKernan, and King administrations. He worked with George Mitchell on the Democratic State Committee in the early 1960s; he was especially close to George Mitchell’s brother, Robbie, and they often played tennis. Carol Shapiro was born and raised in Waterville, Maine, and attended Colby College. She and George Mitchell were high school classmates. SummaryInterview includes discussion of: family background; 1974 Maine gubernatorial campaign; Jim Longley story; military service; anti-Semitism; description of George Mitchell’s character and personality; state treasurers story; dating story; George Mitchell’s mother, Mary (Saad) Mitchell; Mitchell-Muskie comparison; Ken Curtis; and Bill Clinton story

Does Involvement in Religion Help Prisoners Adjust to Prison? (FOCUS)

Research conducted by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency has uncovered an abundant variety of religious responses to incarceration. First, religious participation can help an inmate overcome the depression, guilt, and self-contempt that so often accompanies the prison sentence. Second, inmates may seek a way to avoid the constant threats faced in prison. In many ways, the prisoner's desire for religion is not very different from that of the free-world citizen in that he or she seeks religion to make life more livable

Using Common Academic Indicators to Predict Graduation Rates at CSUN, 2005-2014

The median time to graduation at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) is five years and fewer than fifty percent of first time freshmen graduate in less than eight years. We used data mining and predictive analytics to determine some of the key academic indicators of success at CSUN. The most important indicators that we found were (a) which math course the student was placed in (or took first); (b) student grade point average (GPA) at the end of each of the first two terms in residence; and (c) successful completion of a freshman experience seminar course (UNIV 100). When all three are considered simultaneously, we can correctly identify over two thirds of the students who will drop out without graduating, while misidentifying approximately one-fifth of students who ultimately graduate as at-risk of not graduating

Treatment of brain tumors in children is associated with abnormal MRS ratios in brain tissue remote from the tumor site.

PURPOSE: Children who have brain tumors are at risk for a variety of treatment-related sequelae, including neuropsychological and cognitive impairment, neurologic deficits, and neuroendocrinologic disturbances. We sought to determine the value of proton MR spectroscopy in assessing brain tissue remote from the tumor site to ascertain the effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatment in these patients. METHODS: Single-voxel proton MR spectra from 70 patients (111 spectra) and 11 healthy volunteers (11 spectra) were analyzed. NAA/Cr, NAA/Cho, and Cho/Cr ratios based on peak areas were obtained from nonneoplastic regions of the frontal lobe. The relationship between MR spectroscopic ratios and treatment was determined. RESULTS: NAA-containing ratios were decreased in patients as compared with control subjects. The presence of gadolinium-based contrast material did not cause significant changes in the ratios as compared with precontrast data. When chemotherapy was a component of a child’s treatment protocol, we found a significant decline in NAA/Cr ratios. Patients who underwent both chemotherapy and radiation therapy showed a trend toward lower NAAcontaining ratios if the chemotherapy was administered before the radiation therapy. Patients receiving whole-brain radiation had a trend toward lower NAA-containing ratios than did those who had only focal tumor treatment. CONCLUSION: In children with brain tumors, MR spectroscopy of brain tissue remote from the tumor reveals treatment-related biochemical changes

A study of adverse reaction algorithms in a drug surveillance program

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110093/1/cptclpt1985156.pd

Psychological and Environmental Correlates of HPA Axis Functioning in Parentally Bereaved Children: Preliminary Findings

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97514/1/jts21788.pd