Here and Now: Spencer Wells and the Genographic Project
"Okay, open your mouth and say 'Ahhhhh!'" One swab of saliva at a time, Spencer Wells is collecting a DNA database to help trace human origins to the continent of Africa tens of thousands of years ago.
Wells is one of those whiz kids who graduated high school at the age of 16. He later obtained his PhD from Harvard and studied under Luca Cavalli-Sforza at Stanford's School of Medicine. Cavalli-Sforza is considered by many to be the "father of anthropological genetics."
Wells is studying genomic diversity in indigenous populations in the hope of unraveling age-old mysteries about early human migration.
Here's a link to the Genographic
Project.
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The Future of Arizona's Public Universities
I've got a 17 year old who wants to go to the University of Arizona. Question is, can her mother and I afford it? This is an issue for thousands of Arizona parents and their high school seniors.
Let's face it, the cost to go to college isn't as cheap as it used to be. And it's only getting more expensive as the Arizona Board of Regents will vote on tuition increases at all three state universities: Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University, and U of A.
It's not as if it's THAT expensive. But many families don't readily have the $6-7,000 a year in tuition, plus another 5 to 6 grand for room and board. Then there's the oh so cheap textbooks. The list goes on, but I digress.
The last of the babies of the baby boomer generation are in the education pipeline and will greatly expand the demand on public and private universities. How can public universities continue to grow to accommodate tens of thousands of new students while keeping tuition affordable? Oh yea, then there's this little thing called a RECESSION! Budget cuts, bigger classes, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Just some of the issues we'll put to Fred and Fred: Board of Regents member Fred Duval and Regent President Fred Boice. Have a question, comment, concern, solution? Your ideas are welcome below!
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Governor Napolitano
Where do you begin? So many issues to discuss with the governor, only one hour's time.
Is she DC bound to take a cabinet post in the Obama administration? Will she testimony before Congress help states get more money to cover health care and other costs? What will she do about Arizona's dwindling revenues? Oh, and that one million dollar fine paid by Honeywell for polluting groundwater in South Phoenix that is earmarked for the Western Climate Initiative? Might want to make sure lawmakers are in on the deal because they have a way of calling 'check' by moving a different chess piece. Or in his case approving the continuation of the Department of Environmental Quality for two years instead of ten.
I'm sure you have a question or ten to ask. Please remember the more concise a question is (meaning shorter and to the point) the more likely it will be asked of Governor Napolitano.
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