January 31, 2011 - Columbia News - Columbia University

columbia pictures January 31, 2011 8
Diane Bondareff
Thirteen winners were honored at the annual Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards for excellence in broadcast
journalism, which was held in Low Library on Jan. 20. Above left, CBS News correspondent Scott Pelley accepts a silver
baton for “The Blowout,” an investigation into the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. At
right, Brian Ross of ABC News, standing with his 20/20 producers, speaks after accepting the award for their investigation
into USA Swimming’s failure to protect young female swimmers from abusive coaches. Five local television stations
were also honored. And for the first time, a duPont award went to a print-based news organization, The Las Vegas Sun,
for its multimedia story on gambling addiction. CNN anchor and special correspondent Soledad O’Brien and NBC anchor
Lester Holt hosted the ceremony.
Diane Bondareff
Gene Boyars
Opening with a sweep: On the first weekend of Ivy League play Jan. 15, Columbia’s men’s and women’s basketball
teams beat Cornell in a Levien Gym double-header that featured a pre-game festival for University faculty and staff
families to promote community attendance at women’s basketball. Two first-year players helped lead the Lions to
victory. Brianna Orlich (above, left) scored a career-high 21 points in the women’s 61-54 win. Freshman guard Steve
Frankowski (above, right) scored 11, including two clutch foul shots in the final minute of the men’s 79-75 conquest of
last year’s Ivy champion Big Red. It was Columbia’s first win in 5 years against a Cornell program that went all the way
to last year’s NCAA “Sweet Sixteen.” On January 22 in Ithaca, the men made it a sweep of their own when sophomore
guard Brian Barbour (not pictured) scored a career-high 23 to lead the Lions to a 70-66 victory. The Lions’ record
improved to 11-5 and 2-0 in the Ivy League; they remain on the road until meeting rivals Princeton and Penn in Levien
Gym on February 11 and 12.
Gene Boyars
Researchers ID Bacteria
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Antarctica
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involved in vascular pathogenesis, we must be able
not only to detect bacterial DNA, but first of all to
isolate the bacterial strains from the vascular wall of
the patient,” Kozarov said.
The research team looked at five pairs of diseased
and healthy arterial tissue, and found that Enterobacter
hormaechei appeared in very high numbers
in diseased but not in healthy arterial tissues. These
bacteria, which are resistant to many antibiotics, are
more often associated with the bloodstream infection
sepsis as well as pneumonia.
It is widely known that chronic inflammation leads
to atherosclerosis. The new research suggests that the
infection may start with the dissemination of bacteria
though different “gates” in the vascular walls.
The data also support Kozarov’s previous studies,
which found periodontal bacteria in the carotid artery
and implicated tissue-destroying periodontal infections
in diseases of the circulatory system.
According to the researchers, bacteria gain access
to circulation through different avenues and then
penetrate the vascular walls where they can create
secondary infections that lead to atherosclerotic
plaque formation.
Once in circulation, Kozarov said, bacteria using
this “Trojan horse” approach can persist in the organism
for extended periods of time while traveling
to and colonizing distant sites. This can lead to a
multitude of problems including the development of
atherosclerosis, which ultimately can lead to a heart
attack or stroke.
Dr. Jingyue Ju, director of the Center for Genome
Technology & Biomolecular Engineering, and Dr. Roman
Nowygrod, Department of Surgery, College of
Physicians and Surgeons, also contributed to the research,
which was supported in part by a grant from
the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the
National Institutes of Health and by the Columbia
University Section of Oral and Diagnostic Sciences.
what are you looking at
Hint: Some people think it’s a game; sometimes it’s found near troubled water. At
Columbia University, doctors and medical students use it every day. What is this and on
what Columbia University campus is it located Send answers to curecord@columbia.
edu. The first person to email the right answer wins a Record mug.
ANSWER TO LAST CHALLENGE: Ceiling relief of 3rd floor balcony in Low Library
WINNER: No Winner
The next 10 days are for packing, coordinating, and
most important, taking safety classes of all types including
the most important–a two-day/one-night class
where we camp outside, learn about all the camping
equipment, and show we can deal with the elements before
they send us out into the unknown. We also need
snowmobile school, helicopter safety school, environmental
safety and awareness, crevasse training, and on
and on …With all the gear and packing to put together,
including food, this will take well over a week.
We need to make sure we have two of many things,
such as stoves, for safety. Just planning our food for
when we are working takes all afternoon and half the
evening.
Jan. 20–We survived Happy Camper survival school!
This is essential training for anyone who goes into the
field on the coldest, most remote continent on Earth
… We learn to build snow trenches for survival and all
things related to camping in the cold, although we still
appreciate that it is warmer here than back home. Also,
everyone goes through snowmobile basic repair and
use, rock climbing 101 and crevasse rescue training.
Tomorrow is the last day before flying out to the remote
CTAM (central Transantarctic Mountains) camp
that we will use as a base for getting to Mount Howe
and Mount Achernar. Mike Roberts, our mountaineering
guide, uses the last day to give one more crevasserescue
training course.
We learned how to stop a fall down a steep slope,
set up rescue systems and traversed around an ice fall
to learn to recognize and avoid crevasses. Upon our return,
we found out that our flight will be delayed a day.
Very typical for Antarctica!
Since the last post, the team has been at its campsite
near the Transantarctic Mountains and has no access to
the Internet. As of Jan. 26, they were expected to return
to base camp any day. Blog posts will resume and can be
found on Lamont’s website at www.ldeo.columbia.edu.