Vol. 17, No. 18Feb. 5, 1998

A selection of items in the national and local media about the University-its faculty, staff and students:

Forbes, Nov. 3. The Gary Cooper Factor. "We slid into this exercise as a result of hovering over one sentence in a recent special issue of the journal Intelligence. Main theme of the special issue: 'general intelligence,' also known as g, and its supreme importance in the workplace and everywhere else. But there's something else that is also important, which brings us to the sentence that got us going. It appeared in an article by Linda Gottfredson, professor educational studies at the University of Delaware, who edited the special issue. Referring to g, she stated: 'No other measured trait, except perhaps conscientiousness, has such general utility across the sweep of jobs in the U.S. economy.... Some psychologists equate conscientiousness with what, in the Gary Cooper era, was called 'character.'"

Maryland Farmer, November. Delaware fights Pfiesteria. "To address the Pfiesteria issue and other problems of water degradation, John C. Nye, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Delaware, has formed a nutrient management and water quality task force to evaluate environmental, economic and engineering strategies to promote nutrient management and to assess the feasibility of alternative uses of poultry litter. Tom Sims, a UD soil scientist who had developed a nutrient management manual for Delaware, has assumed leadership of the Delaware Water Resources Center, an organization whose role is to respond to all concerns about water quality. Sims also will chair the new task force. Others in the group are: Bobby Gempesaw, chair of the Department of Food and Resources Economics; James Clancey, a bio-resources engineer; Tom Ilvento, a rural sociologist; and Ed Kee, extension bigetable specialist."

Baltimore Sun, Nov. 3. The brain reads sound by sound. "Research: Scientists can now watch what goes on in children' s brains as they read. When the lights go on, it confirms an old theory: We learn to read by linking letters with sounds.... Jack Pikulski, a University of Delaware reading professor and president of the International Reading Association based in Newark, Del.-an organization that has promoted the whole-language approach-says the NIH research offers valuable insights. But he cautions against drawing conclusions from it about the general population and reading. 'Be careful. ... They concentrated on the 20 to 25 percent having difficulty,' Pikulski says of the studies. 'We shouldn't generalize about what is happening with the broader population.'"

HR News Online. Nov. 21. Poorly Performing Employees May be Trying to Tell You Something. "Although workers often overstate their skills to advance their careers, too often managers fail to notice a more devastating flip side of such behavior; employees purposely trying to look bad at work.... In fact, instances of employees intentionally creating a bad impression at work are more common than you might think, says Thomas Becker, assistant professor in the Department of Business Administration at UD, who studied the phenomenon for two years. For the study, Becker and Scott Martin of London House interviewed 162 MBA students.... Becker says self-sabotage is often the result of ineffective management and dysfunctional organizational culture. Some workers think their boss is giving them a hard time, and want to exact revenge for making unreasonable demands. They know that their boss will get reprimanded if their performance slips."

Change, November/December. Profit-Making or Profiteering? Proprietors Target Teacher Education. "Frank Murray [education] of the Holmes Partnership fears that the transformation of teacher education from a research-based discipline to an intuitive practicum deprives future teachers of what they need most: a scholarly background in teaching and learning so that they are able to distinguish unproductive educational fads from genuine improvements. Yet, as we've seen, the market seems to be working against hopes like these."

Delaware Capital Review, Dec. 1-7. Toy registry list children's picks. "Technology is bringing a new dimension to shopping. At Toys 'R' Us stores in Dover and Salisbury, Md., children can now use electronic bar-code scanner to make their toy selections.... Learning toys are also a prime gift, Ms. Mosley said. Want your kids to bone up on math and spelling skills? Vtech's Talking Whiz Kid laptop computer has extra education modules in addition to the basic R's.... Meryl P. Gardner, associate professor of business at the University of Delaware, confirmed an 'edu-tainment' direction that toy selection by adults for children is taking. She said it's a byproduct of an affluent economy when parents are putting more money into toy and games that they believe have education value."

-Compiled by Barbara Garrison