10 | THE UNIVERSITY TAILY KANSAN WWW.KANSAN.COM | NEWS | WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2007
》 ENVIRONMENT
Professor urges scientific communication
Scurto encourages science students to work with student media to present information
By Maggie Vanbuskirk mvanbuskirk@kansan.com
"You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother."
Albert Einstein said this. But did he ever think how difficult it could be to explain a scientific observation to a college student? A student's hearing level may be better than granny's but when it comes to environmental issues, their comprehension and interest level may be the same.
Aaron Scurto is beginning to take actions to improve communication
between scientists and non-scientists on topics of sustainability.
Scurto, professor in the chemical and petroleum engineering department, used Einstein's quote to describe his efforts. Scurto is reaching out to campus media outlets for participation in a developing initiative.
He proposes that students in the sciences work on projects that they will present to student media outlets. The two groups of students would then work together to decide how to present the information to the public. Scurto said the initiative would help students in the sciences
and students in the fields of communication learn to present topics in science, technology and society more effectively to the public. It would also keep the University and Lawrence community educated on "green" topics, he said.
"Scientists and nonscientists can get together and learn how to communicate together and with the community," Scurto said.
Danielle Basci, KJHK station manager, said Scurto approached the station on the heels of its decision to cancel its AP-wire news programming, which is being replaced with a twice-weekly, one-hour news magazine. Basci said the station offered Scurto's team a weekly news segment or educational series on its new program. Basci said that nothing official had been decided but that she thought Scurto's initiative was a great opportunity for the station and its listeners.
"Bringing an environmental beat to our news programming will benefit KJHK listeners because they live in a community where environmental sustainability is held with great importance, and we're thrilled to put our airwaves to good use in order to acknowledge this cause;" Basci, Houston senior, said.
Scurto said students would cover topics in energy, recycling, sustainability and the environment and how they relate to everyday tasks like doing laundry or choosing which light bulbs to buy. He is still in the early planning stages of the initiative but hopes to have things in motion in the next fourto-six months. He is beginning to write proposals for funding agencies, like the National Science Foundation, to help support his efforts.
Edited by Joe Caponio
HEALTH
By Jay Lindsay Associated Press
Study:Diet soda has same risks as regular soda
Susan Neely, president of the American Beverage Association, said the notion that diet drinks are associated with bulging waistlines defies common sense.
BOSTON — People who drank one or more diet sodas each day developed the same risks for heart disease as those who downed sugary regular soda, a large but inconclusive study found.
The results surprised the researchers who expected to see a difference between regular and diet soda drinkers. It could be, they suggest, that even no-calorie sweet drinks increase the craving for more sweets, and that people who indulge in sodas probably have less healthy diets overall.
The study's senior author, Dr. Vasan Ramachandran, emphasized the findings don't show diet sodas are a cause of increased heart disease risks. But he said they show a surprising link that must be studied.
diet (drinks)," said Barry Popkin, of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, who has called for cigarette-style surgeon general warnings about the negative health effects of soda.
"It's intriguing and it begs an
explanation by people who are qualified to do studies to understand this better," said Vasan, of Boston University School of Medicine.
However, a nutrition expert dismissed the study's findings on diet soda drinkers.
"There's too much contradictory evidence that shows that diet beverages are healthier for you in terms of losing weight that I would not put any credence to the result on the