Mapping the brain
The brain is our most complex and inscrutable organ, but it is on the verge of giving up some of its innermost secrets.

“The next two decades will be the golden age of neuroscience,” declares Jonathan Moreno, director of U.Va.’s Center for Biomedical Ethics. “We’re on the threshold of the kind of rapid growth of information in neuroscience that was true of genetics 15 years ago.”

Moreno spoke in a fascinating article in Reason magazine examining the implications of drugs and treatments that may cure Alzheimer’s disease — or smooth out the wrinkles in a prickly personality.

— Reason, Feb. 2003

Leffler: Brits fear U.S. power more than Hussein’s regime
Even when he’s not on the University’s Grounds, former Arts & Sciences dean Melvyn P. Leffler is making news.

A recent Washington Post report detailed anti-American sentiment in Great Britain, where Leffler is teaching at Oxford this year. Leffler recounted a story of an evening spent at the home of a colleague, arguing over Iraq.
“I was stunned to realize that people here seem more fearful of American power than they are of the oppressiveness and hideousness of Saddam Hussein’s regime,” Leffler said.

— Washington Post, Jan. 26

Iraq, post-Saddam
A recent series of articles in the Miami Herald examined the modern history of Iraq and its prospects in a post-Saddam era.
The state itself was artificially assembled in the days after World War II, its borders containing a diverse population with often competing interests.
Politics professor emeritus R. K. Ramazani predicts that diversity could lead to chaos should Saddam be ousted.
“The only thing that unites the Iraqi opposition is being opposed to Saddam Hussein. Once Saddam is out of the picture, they’ll be at each other’s throats,” he said.

— Miami Herald, Feb. 7

House passes new ‘covenant marriage’ bill
The state House of Delegates recently passed a bill that would create a new kind of marriage.

Those seeking to enter a “cov-enant marriage” would sign a declaration of intent and undergo at least eight hours of counseling. Should they later seek to divorce, they would have to undergo additional counseling and sit through a longer waiting period for no-fault divorce.

A similar measure in Louisiana has resulted in a lower divorce rate, says U.Va. sociology professor Steven Nock, and also has an economic benefit.

“The current arrangement of no-fault divorce leaves many women and children abandoned and poor,” he said. “One in three divorces result in a woman and children in poverty.”

— Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, Feb. 5