News from Transy

Dr. Charles D. Smith LEXINGTON, Ky.—Combating Alzheimer’s disease through early detection and preventive therapy may prove to be a more successful strategy than attempting to cure the disease in its more advanced stages, said University of Kentucky professor Dr. Charles D. Smith in an April 7 presentation that was part of the Alltech Lecture Series at Transylvania University. “We don’t need a silver bullet to cure Alzheimer’s where it is already present, we need to help a person stay ahead of the pathology that causes the disease,” Smith said. “Instead of turning around and shooting it, we should outrun it.” Smith is Robert P. and Mildred Moore’s Professor in Alzheimer’s Research in the department of neurology at UK’s Sanders-Brown Center on Aging. He spoke to a near-capacity crowd in Transylvania’s Carrick Theater. Smith told his audience that no significant breakthroughs in the understanding of Alzheimer’s disease had occurred from the time German physician Dr. Alois Alzheimer first described the disorder in 1906 until 1978, but that more recent research offers the hope of effective treatment. “Clinical trials for practical, preventive measures for Alzheimer’s disease are within immediate view,” he said. “The goal is to devise treatment for people who are at high risk for the disease.” Alzheimer’s is a progressive and fatal brain disease that affects as many as 5.3 million Americans, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. The disease destroys brain cells, causing problems with memory, thinking and behavior that

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Gregory Partain LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University music professor and pianist Gregory Partain will appear as concerto soloist with the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra and the 200-voiced Lexington Singers in the season finale performance Friday, April 17, at 8 p.m. in a performance of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy. Partain, an accomplished soloist and composer, has toured Poland, Guatemala and Costa Rica and has performed as recitalist, chamber musician or concerto soloist in most regions of the United States. He has won the national KMS Competition in Seattle, first prize in the Memphis Beethoven Club Competition, second prize in the International Bartok-Kabalevsky Competition and was a finalist in the Concert Artists Guild New York Competition. In 1999, Partain made his debut as a composer at the Kentucky Music Teachers Association state convention with the performance of his two songs for harp and soprano on poems of William Butler Yeats. In 1997, Partain premiered a new concerto by colleague Larry Barnes with the Transylvania Orchestra under the direction of Ben Hawkins. Guest conductors for Friday’s concert are Jeff Johnson of the Lexington Singers and John Nardolillo of the UK Symphony Orchestra. The program includes Fauré’s Pavane, Op. 50, Requiem and Op. 48 and Beethoven’s Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, Op.43, Choral Fantasy and Op. 80. For tickets and information call (859) 233-4226 or visit www.lexphil.org.

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University’s anthropology club will promote awareness on campus about fair trade and the origins of the products we buy during its annual Fair Trade Week, March 30-April 3. The events begin Monday, March 30, with information tables in Forrer Hall and Haupt Plaza from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Pamphlets on fair trade issues will be available, along with samples of fair trade coffee and chocolate. Other events include: Tuesday, March 31: Anne Hopkins, general manager of Good Foods Co-op, will give a presentation on her experience with Equal Exchange in Chiapas, Mexico, in the Presidents Room in Forrer Hall from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 1: As a community-building activity, students can paint ceramic tiles on the front lawn of Old Morrison from noon-4 p.m. The tiles were made at Transylvania by two senior anthropology majors. The North Limestone Capoeira dance group will perform at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 2: The documentary Guatemala: The Human Price of Coffee and the feature film War Dance will be screened in the Cowgill Center, room 102, at 7 p.m. Friday, April 3: Local fair trade vendors will sell their products from 5-7 p.m. in the William T. Young Campus Center, followed by a MECCA flamenco dance performance at 7 p.m. and a fair trade fashion show at 7:30 p.m. For more information, contact the public relations office at (859) 233-8120.

U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich LEXINGTON, Ky.—U.S. Representative and former presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich will deliver the 2009 Rick O’Neil Memorial Undergraduate Philosophy Lecture at Transylvania University Friday, March 27 at 7:30 p.m. in Carrick Theater. The lecture is free and open to the public. The lecture is sponsored by Transylvania’s philosophy program and Sophia, the University’s philosophy society, in honor of the late Transylvania philosophy professor Rick O’Neil. For more information, contact philosophy professor Ellen Cox at (859) 233-8178 or ecox@transy.edu.

Prya Murad LEXINGTON, Ky.—Prya Murad readily admits she has a “dorky” interest in biology. She also owns up to having an argumentative nature and a tendency to talk too much, and when asked to describe herself, the Transylvania University sophomore is likely to tell you she’s part control freak, part hippie. And that’s just for starters. Murad, a native of Pakistan, is indeed a multifaceted young woman. But she has long had a single-minded goal: to make a difference in the world. Specifically, she wants to tackle some of the ethical issues surrounding the field of genetics. Murad takes a step toward that lofty goal March 13 and 14 when she joins an elite group of college students at the National Undergraduate Bioethics Conference at Harvard University in Boston. “I’m pumped,” she exclaimed. “It’s really cool to talk to people who are so energized about these issues.” The biology and philosophy double major is one of only 25 to 30 student presenters at the conference, an annual gathering of students and experts in the field of bioethics. It’s sponsored by the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities. Murad’s presentation will be on a subject she believes often gets overlooked in a world where bioethical issues abound. Titled “Cheap Labor: The International Commercial Surrogacy Market,” the presentation will focus on the trend of women in first-world countries to hire surrogates in second- and third-world countries to carry their babies – a

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