The Capital Times, Madison
January 26, 2006
Headline: Prep stars make calls on court
Byline: Dennis Semrau
Excerpt: Lawrence University standout Mason Oakes, a former Madison Memorial athlete, has been named a finalist for the Hockey Humanitarian Award. Oakes, a senior forward who has 12 points in 15 games for the Vikings this season, is the only finalist from a Division III school. A biochemistry major, he carries a 3.84 grade-point average and is a member of the Academic All-Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association team. While at Lawrence, Oakes has served as a volunteer for the Boys and Girls Club in Appleton and participated in other charitable activities through the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. Previously, he was a West Madison Hockey Association volunteer, helped with Christmas meal distribution to the needy and volunteered at a local retirement home.

Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois
January 26, 2006
Headline: For men at work, sexy clothes are duds
Byline: John Kass
Excerpt: I'm upset about a new study from Lawrence University involving young women executives dressing like tarts at the office. It is titled "Evaluations of Sexy Women in Low- And High-Status Jobs," but there are no pictures. We journalists love such studies because they give us cover to report corporate courtship rituals while running photos of female models in tight leather miniskirts in the name of good journalism. We debate what women wear, but do we ever debate whether men may dress provocatively at work? And doesn't this lack of debate discriminate against men who may wish to dress like sexy beasts in the boardroom? Naturally, I called one of the Lawrence University professors, social psychologist Peter Glick, on Wednesday to complain. "There's no surprise the media has picked up on this study," he said. "I've done a number of other studies that I would consider relatively more important, but they don't have the `sexy women managers' aspect." According to the study, women may dress conservatively. Or, in tight leather miniskirts while showing much cleavage, although they might not be taken seriously when it comes time for that merit promotion. Yet, men don't have options. The study states that "the relative uniformity of men's clothing and grooming options at work (especially for managers) means that the sexualization of appearance is less likely to be relevant to the perceptions of male managers. Men's business attire is relatively uniform -- there is no male equivalent of the low-cut blouse or slit skirt." Here's what really bothers me. Denying men the right to make feeble excuses and seek victim status isn't only anti-American. It's exclusionary and sexist, and it doesn't offer equal protection under the law. "But men's business attire is limited," Glick said over the phone. "That's not so for women. What sexy clothes are there for men?"

NCAASports.com, Indianapolis, Indiana
January 25, 2006
Notebook: Vikings Stand Alone
Byline: Amy Farnum
Excerpt: Lawrence University remains the only unbeaten men's basketball team in all divisions of the NCAA after a trio of losses by Duke, Florida and Pitt in Division I on January 21. The Vikings are off to their best start in school history with a 14-0 record. The third-ranked Vikings are led by senior forward Chris Braier, who leads the Midwest Conference and ranks fourth in the nation with 12.3 rebounds per game.

Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois
January 24, 2006
Headline: Too sexy for work? Are you dressed for sex or success?
Byline: Kyra Kyles
Excerpt: With the new year under way, it's tempting to go for a new look. Go ahead and wear those new heels to a party or those dangly earrings for a night out. But keep it conservative at work. Provocative dress around the office could give fellow workers the idea that female managers are incompetent or even using sex to gain an unfair advantage, according to a recent Lawrence University study. For women who say they'd never dream of wearing micro-minis or low-cut blouses to work, " provocative" may not mean what you think. Office wear is getting more conservative, say image and wardrobe experts. The Lawrence University study also found that the lack of clothing choices for men spares them from too-sexy perceptions.

[The story also ran in the March 3 Chattanooga (Tenn.) Times Free Press under the headline "Too sexy for work. Provocative dress not appropriate attire for the office" and in the March 21 Wilmington (NC) Morning Star under the banner "Colleagues at the office should focus on your skills -- not your style."]

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
January 24, 2006
Headline: Lawrence stands alone after the mighty fall. Vikings are nation's lone unbeaten team
Byline: Jeff Potrykus
Excerpt: Welcome to the sometimes surreal world of college basketball. In a span of about 10 hours on Saturday, No. 1 Duke, No. 2 Florida and No. 9 Pittsburgh each lost for the first time this season. The stunning developments left Division III Lawrence University, located in Appleton, as the nation's only unbeaten men's college basketball team among NCAA members. And then there was one: Lawrence. "You never think that you're going to be the only undefeated team; Lawrence University, for God's sake," said Lawrence coach John Tharp, in his 12th season at the school. "Are you kidding me?" Sorry, Coach. This is no drill. But you now have something Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, Florida's Billy Donovan and Pittsburgh's Jamie Dixon don't. "I would take a loss to have their paychecks," Tharp said, his words turning quickly to a hearty laugh. Tharp, whose team is 8-0 in the Midwest Conference, 14-0 overall and ranked No. 5 in the latest D3hoops.com national poll, has been laughing since late Saturday, when his phone line at home experienced a meltdown. "I've received phone calls from alumni, friends . . . from all over the place," Tharp said. "It started Saturday night at about 10 o'clock. I started getting these random phone calls and messages." Meanwhile, several of his players, relaxing after their 79-68 victory over St. Norbert, were watching ESPN to catch the day's highlights. "We heard that Duke lost and Pittsburgh lost, too," said senior forward Chris Braier, a graduate of Wauwatosa East High School. "Then we were rooting for Bruce Pearl and Tennessee. Later that night someone said that Tennessee had beaten Florida. A lot of kids around campus were pretty excited. Most of the guys on the team were just laughing." Until they noticed their school's name on ESPN. The network listed the upsets of the last three unbeaten Division I teams and noted that left just one men's team with a perfect record. Lawrence. "It's kind of surreal," Braier said. The unexpected national publicity is also deserved. In each of the last two seasons, Lawrence has been ousted from the Division III national tournament by the eventual national champion, UW-Stevens Point. Those Lawrence teams won two conference regular-season titles, two conference tournament titles and 44 of 55 games overall.

The Capital Times, Madison
January 23, 2006
Headline: Looking for the last unbeaten? Try Lawrence
Byline: The Associated Press
Excerpt: The last undefeated men's college basketball team in America is in the Fox Valley. With Saturday's 79-68 victory over St. Norbert College, Lawrence University ran its record to 14-0. With Duke, Florida and Pittsburgh all losing on "Shocker Saturday," the Vikings stand as the last unbeaten NCAA or NAIA team in the land. Lawrence is ranked No. 5 nationally in NCAA Division III by the Web site D3hoops.com. "Since Sunday was a day off for us, it's OK for our guys to take this moment and enjoy it," Lawrence coach John Tharp said. "It's pretty neat for our players, since they've worked hard to get here." The Vikings have won the last two Midwest Conference championships. "Last night, when Florida lost to Tennessee, there were guys telling me, 'Hey, we're only ones left. We're No. 1,'" Vikings all-American forward Chris Braier said.

The News Journal, Wilmington, Delaware
January 22, 2006
Headline: The right clothes enhance people's perceptions of you. Looking presentable while dressing appropriately projects positive image
Byline: Steve Bien-Aime
Excerpt: While we all don't wear formal attire to our jobs, our clothing helps people form an impression of us -- regardless of whether it's right or wrong. Your status in a company also plays a part in determining that opinion, said Peter Glick, a psychology professor at Lawrence University in Wisconsin. In a study published last year in the Psychology of Women Quarterly, Glick found that a woman could wear the same outfit but was viewed differently depending on her job. A female manager wearing a tight skirt and showing some cleavage was viewed as dumber and generated stronger negative emotions than the receptionist who wore the same clothes. "You're open to the stereotype that you used your sexuality to get ahead," Glick said. Dressing sexy is "perceived as very inconsistent with a managerial job." When the manager and the receptionist wore a turtleneck, business jacket and slacks, the perceptions of competence improved, and people felt more positive about each of them, with the manager leading in both categories.

[The story also ran in the March 19 Elmira (NY) Star-Gazette under the headline "The right clothes enhance people's perceptions of you."]

Chicago Sun Times, Chicago, Illinois
January 20, 2006
Headline: Suddenly, gay's really OK
Byline: Lucio Guerrero
Excerpt: It wasn't too long ago that audiences got up and walked out of the movie "Making Love." It wasn't the acting that offended some crowds, it was the man-to-man relationship. A kiss between Harry Hamlin and Michael Ontkean was just too much for some viewers. But judging by the trophies being handed out during this film awards season, the viewing public has come a long way -- or at least has become more tolerant of "gay movies." New films such as "Brokeback Mountain," "Capote" and "Transamerica" are finding larger, more widespread American audiences willing to accept characters who are gay or transsexual and dealing with real issues. For many, the newness isn't the prominence of gay films or their acceptance by the general public; instead, it's a newfound interest by the media driving the surge. "I'd say that what we're seeing isn't a new willingness to have gay themes, but rather a new interest in the idea of the 'gay-themed movie,'" said Melanie Boyd, a professor of Gender Studies and Queer Theory at Lawrence University in Wisconsin. "What's shifted is the tendency to talk about these movies as 'gay movies' per se -- rather than insisting that they are really about some other, more abstract concept." "What's interesting is that these movies are all, in fact, very different -- as is the role that homosexuality plays in each of them." Boyd said "Brokeback," for example, uses homosexuality in order to create the structure of an epic romance, while "Capote" uses sexuality as a way to humanize Truman Capote. "Lumping these films together actually demonstrates the ways in which mainstream America hasn't really 'accepted' homosexuality," she said.

Chronicle of Higher Education online, Washington, D.C.
January 19, 2006
Headline: A glance at the current issue of Psychology of Women Quarterly: Dress perception
Byline: Jason M. Breslow
Excerpt: The higher women climb in their careers, the higher they may want to keep their necklines, suggests a study that found that undergraduates think less of provocatively dressed women in positions of power. The authors of the study -- Peter Glick, a professor of psychology at Lawrence University, in Appleton, Wis.; Cathryn Johnson and Heather Branstiter, undergraduates there; and Sadie E. Larsen, a graduate student in psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign -- recruited 66 undergraduates and gauged their reactions to how women dress by showing them videos. The researchers found that students considered the woman who dressed sexily as less intelligent and competent for her job when told she was a "senior manager" at an advertising firm. They did not have that response, however, when the woman was said to be a lower-ranking receptionist. Students also expressed higher levels of negativity toward the more scantily clad woman when told she was a manager than when told she was a receptionist. While participants found revealing outfits equally inappropriate for both jobs, past research has shown that "the sexy-woman stereotype is associated with a lack of stereotypically masculine, competence-related traits and is viewed as a poor fit for traditionally masculine occupations (such as manager)," the researchers write. Conversely, they say, sexiness is seen as "compatible with lower-status, stereotypically feminine occupations" like a receptionist, where women have traditionally had to cater to men.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
January 18, 2006
Headline: Being fashion forward at work can set women back. Survey finds edgy attire affects impression of female managers
Byline: Tannette Johnson-Elie
Excerpt: Whether at work or at play, we sisters like to look good. For some of us, the louder and more flamboyant the outfit, the better. But -- and are you really surprised? -- that tight orange outfit with that sheer leopard-print top, black fishnet stockings and high-heeled shoes that you sometimes like to wear to the nightclub may get you stares of disapproval in the office. Women in general are stereotyped in the business world, but minority women are more likely to be viewed as sex objects based on racist stereotypes. A survey just completed by Peter Glick, a professor of psychology at Lawrence University in Appleton, found that a sexy self-presentation -- such as high heels, a tight skirt and low-cut blouse -- can harm women in managerial positions. You think you're making the most of your assets. Everyone else thinks you're a bimbo. When minority women dress provocatively, it can trigger the general racist stereotype that they are highly sexual, Glick says. "My speculation is that these more general racist stereotypes would make people more likely to view minority women as sexual objects," Glick says. Younger women of all races tend to be more influenced by the media and television images of sexy women in the workplace, which gives them a distorted view of what's acceptable for the real world. I'm more concerned for the younger generations of African-American women and girls who tend to take their fashion cues from rap and hip-hop videos that tend to sexually exploit black women. Glick has a message for younger generations of women of all races: If you have aspirations of moving up, no one is going to take you seriously if you're wrapped like eye candy. "Women must be aware that the short-term benefits that you potentially are going to receive for emphasizing your sexiness potentially are going to lead to long-term costs in terms of how you're perceived," Glick says. There's a lot you can't control in the corporate world. How you dress is one thing you can control.

USA Today, McLean, Virginia
January 16, 2006
Headline: SAT: One test, three sittings?
Byline: Mary Beth Marklein
Excerpt: The organization that owns the SAT says it plans to consider allowing students to take the three-section test in separate sittings. But officials warn that students shouldn't expect to see a change anytime soon -- if at all. A typical student gets three hours and 45 minutes to complete the new test, which began last March. It has three parts: a critical-reading section, a math section and a writing section (including an essay), with three breaks totaling 11 minutes. In a letter last month to the College Board, more than 200 admissions professionals, primarily high school counselors who specialize in college guidance, recommended separate sittings, arguing that test results under those conditions "would be better indicators of students' abilities in each area as scores would not be confounded by factors such as fatigue and hunger.” The letter also said that separate sittings could save students time and money because those who want to improve on one section would not be forced to be retested on sections that they otherwise would not take. Meanwhile, the number of colleges doing away with requiring the SAT -- or its rival, the ACT, which added an essay section last year -- in admissions is growing, with some officials citing the new versions as a factor. The additional writing segments have "further raised the level of confusion, angst and expense already associated with the admissions process," Steve Syverson, admissions dean at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., said in an announcement when the school dropped the test requirement in February.

The Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, Washington
January 13, 2006
Headline: Fears
Byline: Angela Smith-Dice
Excerpt: Did you take along a lucky penny today as a countermeasure? Blame this morning's spilled coffee on something other than clumsiness? After all, it's Friday the 13th. The day contends with broken mirrors, black cats and spilled shakers of salt to explain things gone awry. It joins ranks with the many superstitions that cause dark sparks of anxiety in even the most rational among us. Like many superstitions, pinpointing when Friday the 13th became unlucky is at best educated guessing. "When it comes to superstitions, it's really difficult to explain where they originate," said Edmund Kern, associate professor of history at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., and an expert in early modern European and religious culture. "The best that we can do is come up with the first references to them in historical sources." The earliest known Friday the 13th reference appeared in the 20th century, but a 1908 article in The New York Times referred to it as an "ancient superstition," according to the myth-busters at snopes.com. The belief that Friday the 13th is unlucky likely started as the combination of two beliefs: That 13 is an unlucky number and Friday a bad day. Geoffrey Chaucer mentioned Friday as an inauspicious day in the Canterbury Tales in the 14th century, Kern said. Some say biblical tragedies occurred on Fridays, such as the Exodus, the slaying of Abel by brother Cain and Christ's crucifixion.

NCAAsports.com, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
January 12, 2006
Headline: Notebook
Byline: Amy Farnum
Excerpt: Perfect! Lawrence University's Keven Bradley collected a couple of awards for his outstanding play in the Vikings' 83-75 win against Ripon College on Jan. 7. Bradley was named Midwest Conference Player of the Week and was picked for the D3hoops.com Team of the Week after scoring a career-high 33 points in the game. He was perfect in eight field goal attempts, including five three-pointers, and netted the Vikings' final 20 points in the last eight minutes of the game. Lawrence will put its No. 6 ranking and 10-0 record to the test when the Vikings host Grinnell College on January 13. The Vikings have won 11 straight home games dating back to last season.

Wisconsin Public Radio, Madison
January 8, 2006
Show: University of the Air
Program: Modern Medicis: Theatre Patrons in the 20th Century
Host: Norman Gilliland and Emily Auerbach
Excerpt: Lawrence University Associate Professor of Theatre Arts Kathy Privatt appeared on the Sunday, January 8 broadcast of the University of the Air. The show, hosted by Norman Gilliland and Emily Auerbach and titled "Modern Medicis: Theatre Patrons in the 20th Century," featured Professor Privatt discussing Disney's restoration of the New Amsterdam Theatre, the role Fred Miller (of Miller Brewing) played in the birth of the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, and the failed attempt at an art theatre in Chicago in 1906.

San Antonio Express-News, San Antonio, Texas
January 4, 2006
Headline: For women at the office, you are what you wear
Byline: Meena Thiruvengadam
Excerpt: As part of an experiment, researcher Peter Glick asked a woman to wear a sexy, low-cut blouse with a tight skirt, cardigan, teased hair and lots of make-up. Then, he made a set of videos in which she played either a receptionist for a Chicago advertising agency or a senior manager. The result of the Appleton, Wis., psychology professor's study? The sexier a woman dresses and the more prominent a position she holds within a company, the more negatively she's perceived. "If you play up your sexiness and you're in a more powerful position, you're going to get slammed for it as a woman," Glick said. His research, released in the Psychology of Women Quarterly, is based on a survey of 66 students at Appleton's Lawrence University. The students were asked to watch videos of the woman and record their judgments, perceptions and feelings toward her. They also watched videos in which the woman played the same roles but was dressed conservatively. Glick found that sexy attire didn't hurt the receptionist's image, but in sexy clothing the manager seemed less competent and less intelligent. "The sexy woman stereotype is a bimbo stereotype. It can make people think, 'She's not smart, just good looking,' " he said. And if a woman shows herself to be both sexy and smart, that too can be a problem. "Sexy women can be seen as dangerous if they are smart because then they can use it manipulatively," Glick said.

[The article also ran in the January 9th Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) under the headline "Short skirts and power don't mix. Study reveals bias that sexy women aren't smart ­- or fit to manage;" and the January 11 edition of the National Post (Don Mills, Ontario] under the headline "Working girl or career woman?: Tight skirt is career limiting." The Arizona Republic in Phoenix, Arizona reprinted the story under the headline “For women at the office, you are what you wear,” and The Star Phoenix (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) ran the article on January 20th with the heading "Dressing sexy for work not smart: Especially if woman holds senior position with company."]

The Capital Times, Madison
January 3, 2006
Headline: Media musings: A look back, and ahead
Byline: Judy Frankel
Excerpt: There's nothing like a new year to inspire a glance backward. Perhaps the biggest TV story of 2005 was the changing face of the network evening news. With the death of Peter Jennings, and the retirements of Tom Brokaw, Ted Koppel and Dan Rather, network executives are being forced to re-evaluate the usual ways of delivering the nightly network news in order to keep audiences. Having grown up watching Walter Cronkite each evening, I got used to the idea of a trusted voice to turn to for the day's news. But this is no longer the case. Look no further than ABC execs, who are trying to think outside the box: enlisting no less than three accomplished journalists to fill Koppel's shoes. The venerable "Nightline" is now anchored by Martin Bashir, Cynthia McFadden and Terry Moran (a graduate of Lawrence University in Appleton).

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee
January 1, 2006
Headline: Year in theater was packed with pleasues
Byline: Damien Jaques
Excerpt: It doesn't get much better than this, folks, and theatergoers in most other places across the country can only wish for what we regularly enjoy on state stages. That was doubly true in 2005. What follows is my very personal list of the most inspiring, exciting and well-executed productions of the year. Psychological darkness was approached from a different angle by Henrik Ibsen in his "Hedda Gabler," and the Cornerstone Theatre Company gave us a marvelously spare and accessible production in its small basement performance space at the Brumder Mansion. Director Timothy X. Troy [The J. Thomas and Julie Esch Hurvis Professor of Theatre and Drama at Lawrence University] took the difficult drama back to its basics, carefully cast it and developed the actors into a seamless ensemble. Jacque Troy portrayed the title character with a human dimension that made her at various times engaging and likable as well as disgusting and despicable. Heightened sensitivity to perceived anti-Semitism has made "The Merchant of Venice" a problematic piece. National director David Chambers' [Lawrence University Class of 1968] visually dazzling production for Milwaukee Shakespeare shifted our perception of Shylock and pushed the play toward edgy boundaries. The bigotry issue disappeared. Wild, in-your-face costume and set designs and Molly Rhode's incandescent portrayal of Portia were particularly memorable.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock, Arkansas
December 31, 2005
Headline: Few hangover cures work, experts state
Byline: Tracie Dungan
Excerpt: The list of folk remedies for a head-pounding, nauseating hangover seems to grow more bizarre as each New Year's Eve approaches, making those liquor-store pill packets promising prevention seem all the more seductive. Perhaps the hangover-cures mythology is so prevalent because scientists still know relatively little, physiologically, about why hangovers happen. "It is a very poorly studied area," said Bruce E. Hetzler, a professor whose field is neuropharmacology at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis. He's one of the few researchers studying alcohol's effects on the brain. If more researchers examined hangovers, it might lead to a better understanding of alcoholism and, in general, of the body's metabolic processes, he said. Heavy drinking does cause trauma to the body. Alcohol will produce vasodilation, or enlargement of blood vessels, and this could contribute to a headache, Hetzler said. "But we do not really understand the cause or causes of the hangover headache." Scientists know that the amount a person drinks is tied to the likelihood of a hangover and that eating a meal before drinking will slow the rate at which alcohol is absorbed into the body, reducing the blood-alcohol level and with it the hangover risk, he said. They also know that personality affects the likelihood and severity of hangovers, with neurotic, defensive, angry hotheads having the worst ones. And a woman is more susceptible than a man of the same weight who drinks the same amount, Hetzler said. That's because women have less alcohol-metabolizing enzymes in the stomach wall and thus absorb more alcohol. Women also have a greater percentage of body fat, meaning more alcohol reaches the bloodstream. "Alcohol is not as soluble in fat as it is in other bodily tissues and fluids," Hetzler said. He recommends replenishing not only fluids but nutrients. "Alcohol interferes with vitamin activation and absorption," Hetzler said.

South Wales Evening Post, Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom
December 29, 2005
Headline: Taking dim view of sexy dress sense
Excerpt: Trinny and Susannah may tell us that we should show a bit of leg at the office, but if new scientific research is correct, following their advice may be a bad move. American scientists now believe that women who dress sexily at work are thought to be less intelligent than their colleagues. The new research is the work of Peter Glick and his female colleagues from the psychology department of Lawrence University in Wisconsin. In their experiment, the team asked 66 male and female undergraduates to rate the competence and intelligence of a supposed businesswoman and receptionist using video footage. The businesswoman was deemed to be less intelligent if she wore sexy clothes. The scientists explained this by saying that stereotyping in the workplace is alive and well. "Although women have entered the paid workforce in increasing numbers, they remain under-represented in high-status roles, in part because of the continuing application of stereotypes that assign women traits that do not match the attributes associated with managerial jobs," says Glick. "But women are not all stereotyped alike. Rather, they are categorized into three subtypes -- homemakers, career women and sexy women. If women are seen to be homemakers or sexy, they can suffer at work."

Madison Capital Times, Madison
December 23, 2005
Headline: Why mommy is a Democrat
Byline: Doug Moe
Excerpt: Jeremy Zilber, 39, who lives in Madison and teaches government at Lawrence University in Appleton, is getting nationwide attention for his new, self-published children's book, "Why Mommy Is a Democrat." He has also, perhaps not surprisingly, become the subject of vitriolic ridicule on various conservative Web sites and blogs. Sample pages of "Why Mommy Is a Democrat" include the following: "Democrats make sure we will all share our toys, just like Mommy does" and "Democrats make sure children can go to school, just like Mommy does." The idea to do a children's book first surfaced while Zilber was in graduate school at Ohio State. Zilber had written an adult book, "Racialized Coverage of Congress: The News in Black and White," and someone suggested trying one for kids. Zilber wasn't all that interested in that, he said, but then: "A light bulb went on." Zilber had recently heard a startling statistic about the high percentage of children -- at ages like 5, 6, and 7 -- who have partisan leanings, identifying themselves as either Republican or Democrat. "The thing is," Zilber said, "they don't really know what that means." In most cases they're simply repeating what they've heard at home. Zilber's light bulb idea was that it might be helpful to write a book explaining to kids what it means to be a Democrat. He chose the Dems because he is one, and indeed, a portion of the book's profits will be contributed to Democratic candidates and party organizations. The other side of the aisle is not exactly under-represented on the kid lit shelves. A story this week in the Portland Oregonian said that "Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed!" got a boost from Rush Limbaugh and described the book as being about two boys with a lemonade stand who have a nightmare about "Liberaland."

Des Moines Register, Des Moines, Iowa
December 12, 2005
Headline: Short skirts and low cleavage garner attention at work -- but not always the right kind
Byline: Dawn Sagario
Excerpt: Past studies have shown that being good looking will get you ahead in your career and boost your income. New research considered the impact of what you wear to work on your professional status. In a recently published study, researchers from Lawrence University in Wisconsin found that female managers who dressed provocatively were viewed as being less competent and less intelligent. The "sexy" outfit (a tight, knee-length skirt, low-cut shirt with a cardigan, and high heels) was considered inappropriate for both female managers and receptionists, but it was only the managers that elicited more negative reactions. Male and female undergraduates were shown a video of one woman, talking about her general background and hobbies, but changed her dress and job title. The findings were published in the December issue of Psychology of Women Quarterly.

Daily Mail, London, England
December 3, 2005
Headline: A hot dress doesn't impress
Byline: Fiona Macrae
Excerpt: As any woman knows, when you're dressed up to the nines, your confidence soars. But when it comes to the workplace, it might be much better to dress down. Those who don sexy outfits for the office are judged to be less intelligent and less competent, a study reveals. Psychologists in the U.S. reached their conclusions after an experiment in which they showed a group of volunteers a video of an advertising firm manager. Half saw footage in which she was freshfaced and wearing sensible shoes, a plain suit and jumper. The other half were shown the same woman wearing makeup and a tight skirt and low- cut blouse. They were then asked to give their impressions of her. The conservatively-dressed version was perceived to be more intelligent, better educated and as having gone to a more eminent university, according to the research published in the journal Psychology of Women Quarterly. The researchers, from Lawrence University in Wisconsin, say the study shows that women who emphasise their sexuality in the workplace may find it hard to get on in jobs which are traditionally seen as a male preserve. Lead researcher Professor Peter Glick said: 'The results have important implications for women who aspire to, or who hold, high status jobs. Both men and women judged a female manager more harshly when she presented herself in a sexy manner.” The study could go towards explaining why so few women make it into the boardroom. Research released earlier this month showed that just four per cent of all seats in executive boardrooms in the UK are occupied by women.

ABC News, New York, New York
December 2, 3005
Headline: Can sexy women climb the corporate ladder? A new study suggests that bold, revealing clothing may keep you from getting a promotion.
Byline: Eric Noe
Excerpt: A new study on women in the workplace finds that people are likely to feel negatively toward a provocatively dressed businesswoman in a position of power. But as long as she's the secretary, it seems most people won't mind. "Playing up sexiness is sort of a dangerous game, particularly for higher status jobs. It's something that has more costs than benefits," said Peter Glick, the Lawrence University psychology professor who conducted the study. The study, which appears in the December issue of Psychology of Women Quarterly, focused on how women who emphasized "sexiness" were evaluated within high status work roles. Participants in the study viewed videotapes of women who were deemed to be equally attractive and then dressed both conservatively and provocatively. The results showed that a provocatively dressed women in a managerial role evoked hostile emotions and were deemed less intelligent. But when study participants were told that the woman was a receptionist, there were no negative emotions or negative perceptions of the woman's competence. "For women, it's not just about physical attractiveness, it's about how you play it up," Glick said. "If you look too sexy, the stereotype is that you're not that bright, and that's certainly not beneficial if you're planning to move up the ladder."

[Stories on the journal article were also carried on WABC TV, New York and KOCO TV, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma]

Daily Times, Lahore, Pakistan
December 1, 2005
Headline: Hot bosses may lose respect
Excerpt: Female executives who wow the co-workers with high heels, short skirts and sexy low cut blouses risk harming their careers, according to a new US study. Research published in the December issue of Psychology of Women Quarterly suggests however that female receptionists who wear suggestive clothing stir less hostility than their bosses. “Although various media directed toward women encourage women to emphasize their sex appeal, our results suggest that women in high status occupations may have to resist this siren call to obtain the respect of their co-workers,” the study's authors write. Male and female participants in the study by Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, were shown a video of a suggestively dressed actress playing a sexy businesswoman talking about her background and hobbies. The tape stirred more hostile responses than a similar video of an actress playing a businesswoman in flat shoes, slacks, and a turtleneck. The businesswoman dressed in sexy clothes also elicited more hostility than a video of an actress playing a receptionist in similar garb.

[An article also appeared in the IndiaTimes on December 1 under the headline “No Hikes in Skirts.”]

Fast Company magazine, New York, New York
December 2005
Headline: Creative confinement. Since 1907, artists have been retreating to a little colony in the woods of New Hampshire. All they want is some peace and quiet
Byline: Lucas Conley
Excerpt: How do organizations foster creativity? It's a vital question in business and elsewhere. At more than 250 colonies in the United States supporting 12,000 artists a year, the answer is fairly simple: Let people interact with other artists from different disciplines, and they'll pick up new ideas. Give them space and time to work, free from the distractions of daily life, and their productivity will soar. The MacDowell Colony has worked this formula with particular success. Since 1907, its alumni have won more than 65 Pulitzers, 12 MacArthur Foundation "genius awards" and, it claims, "scores" of Academy Awards, Grammys, Guggenheims, and National Book Awards. When the artists mingle, their discussions inevitably are rich with metaphor. The language bridges the gaps between disciplines that, while all artistic, are nevertheless quite distinct. "Each art has a slightly different vocabulary," says Joanne Metcalf, a composer working on an opera about a Venice orphanage in the 16th century. Metcalf, 47, is on sabbatical from Lawrence University, in Wisconsin. "Conversation here is provocative," she says. "It suggests to me new ways to approach my own work." The weight of history at MacDowell also plays a role in the creative process. The studio walls are decorated with "tombstones" -- wooden tablets featuring the handwritten names of artists who have resided there. In Metcalf's studio, the names go back more than 60 years, far enough that the earliest are no longer legible. Pointing to the walls, she indicates some recent composers as her contemporaries, then gestures further back through the years to those she's only known from textbooks and concert halls. How could she not create in their midst?

Boston Herald, Boston, Massachusetts
November 30, 2005
Headline: Study: Sexy woman manager gets lots of ugly looks
Byline: Jay Fitzgerald
Excerpt: Desiree Goodwin is feeling vindicated by a new study that says sexy-looking females face intense office contempt and hostility if they're in management positions. Wisconsin researchers, in an article published in Psychology of Women Quarterly, said surveyed college students rated a woman in a video who wore sexy work attire as being dumb, with a probable low grade-point average from a lesser esteemed college. The harshest criticism was aimed at a woman portrayed in a video as a sexy female office manager, who was described by survey participants as not competent. The catch: It was the exact same woman in the video clips, except she was shown in different outfits to different students - and alternately described as either a manager or a receptionist. “It's terrible how women can be held back for things like this,” said Goodwin, who last spring lost a lawsuit that claimed Harvard University denied her promotions due to her wearing sexy work clothes. “Emphasizing your sexiness as a woman is a real dangerous game,” said Peter Glick, a Lawrence University professor who headed the research project. Glick said his research tends to confirm past studies that show both men and women deemed “attractive” tend to do better in their careers. But when a woman is too sexy at work, well, that's not attractive. Researchers showed videos to different groups of students, telling them the woman in question was either a manager or a receptionist. The sexy looking receptionist was not as harshly criticized as the sexy manager.

Inside Higher Education, Washington, D.C.
November 30, 2005
Byline: More than visiting
Byline: David Epstein
Excerpt: Shortly after Katrina struck, the American Council on Education and seven other higher education associations issued guidelines that urged colleges that admitted displaced students to welcome them as visitors, not as new students, and not to let them enroll permanently once Tulane and other New Orleans colleges re-opened. While nearly every college in the United States is a member of one of the associations that developed the guidelines, it's now clear that plenty of colleges are ignoring them with regard to the non-transfer rule. Richard Whiteside, Tulane's vice president for enrollment management and dean of admissions, commended colleges for stepping up to take in students quickly, calling the post-Katrina actions of higher education institutions the “only adequate response by any industry.” Still, Whiteside was surprised to hear that some institutions are allowing students to stay around indefinitely. The University of Colorado at Boulder accepted 150 students from New Orleans, and 16 of them, 11 from Tulane, will remain at Colorado. Of the eight Tulane freshmen who landed at Harvard University, five of them would like to stay. Robert Mitchell, a spokesman for Harvard, said that the students were part of a special visitors program that does not permit students to transfer beginning the semester after their visit. If they want, he said, the students can leave for a semester and then apply. Ken Branson, a spokesman for Rutgers University, said that New Orleans students who were visiting were allowed to apply for admission if they sought to stay indefinitely. So far, five students from New Orleans institutions have registered at Rutgers for the spring. West Virginia University is also letting New Orleans students stay. Officials at Lawrence University said that Tulane freshman Chris McGeorge would be allowed to stay if he were dead set on it, but that, for now, “we are shepherding him back toward New Orleans,” wrote Rick Peterson, a Lawrence spokesman, in an e-mail. For McGeorge's part, though, he said he wants to at least give Tulane a chance, and that the free six-week term, from mid-May to the end of June, that Tulane is offering for student's who pay the year's tuition is an added bonus.

Dominican Today, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
November 29, 2005
Headline: Women execs must avoid sexy dress
Excerpt: Psychologists at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., say physical attractiveness helps women get ahead, but a sexy self-presentation might be harmful. Psychologist Peter Glick and colleagues found provocative dress, such as the use of tight skirts and low-cut blouses, harmed businesswomen. Managers dressing in a sexy manner evoked hostile emotions and were deemed less intelligent. "A female manager whose appearance emphasized her sexiness elicited less positive emotions, more negative emotions, and perceptions of less competence on a subjective rating scale and less intelligence on an objective scale," the authors reported.

Agence France Presse, Paris, France
November 29, 2005
Headline: Sexy women bosses may lose respect: study
Excerpt: Female executives who wow the co-workers with high heels, short skirts and sexy low cut blouses risk harming their careers, according to a new US study. Research published in the December issue of Psychology of Women Quarterly suggests however that female receptionists who wear suggestive clothing stir less hostility than their bosses. "Although various media directed toward women encourage women to emphasize their sex appeal, our results suggest that women in high status occupations may have to resist this siren call to obtain the respect of their co-workers," the study's authors write. Male and female participants in the study by Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, were shown a video of a suggestively dressed actress playing a sexy businesswoman talking about her background and hobbies. The tape stirred more hostile responses than a similar video of an actress playing a businesswoman in flat shoes, slacks, and a turtleneck. The businesswoman dressed in sexy clothes also elicited more hostility than a video of an actress playing a receptionist in similar garb.

United Press International, Washington, D.C.
November 29, 2005 Headline: Study: Women execs must avoid sexy dress
Excerpt: Psychologists at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., say physical attractiveness helps women get ahead, but a sexy self-presentation might be harmful. Psychologist Peter Glick and colleagues found provocative dress, such as the use of tight skirts and low-cut blouses, harmed businesswomen. But the negative effect was limited to women in high status positions, with such dress viewed as inappropriate for both managers and receptionists. However, only managers dressing in a sexy manner evoked hostile emotions and were deemed less intelligent. The study appears in the December issue of Psychology of Women Quarterly.

Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minnesota
November. 27, 2005
Headline: For college advice, it is buyer beware. Self-help industry can cost applicants time and money
Byline: Paul Tosto
Excerpt: "College Scholarships Are a Complete Waste of Time and Money!" shouts a Web site promising the real scoop on college finance. "A Guerrilla Guide to College Success" vows to help you avoid the "top ten deadly college mistakes." The business of offering college admission and financing tips has mushroomed from simple guides to catalogs of books, consultants and Web sites promising for a fee to deliver applicants the winning edge. Some pitches - "Get Into Any College" - are mostly harmless hype. Others have the feel of a late-night infomercial. Admissions officials say that as the business booms it has become more difficult to distinguish legitimate firms from hucksters. The books and services also have created a perception that you can pay for information that can open doors to scholarships or colleges and that if you don't pay for it, you're a chump. "They're preying on the insecurities of families about the college search process, making them feel that the only way they're going to get the real scoop is by working through the company and charging them for stuff that really doesn't help in most cases," said Steve Syverson, dean of admissions and financial aid at Lawrence University, a small liberal arts college in Appleton, Wis. "The reality is that most kids get into their first choice (college)," he said. "It's almost chic to be stressed out about all this."

RTE Radio 1, Dublin, Ireland
(Radio, Television Eiran)
November/December 2005
Show: Frequencies
Producer/Presenter: Siobhán Mannion
Excerpt: On sabbatical in Ireland, Timothy X. Troy, ’85, the J. Thomas and Julie E. Hurvis Professor of Theatre and Drama at Lawrence University, was featured in a four-part series on the Irish national radio program Frequencies, exploring the role of radio and radio drama across the arts — television, theatre, opera, visual arts, and cinema. The broadcasts aired on November 16, November 23, November 30, and December 7.

Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois
November 6, 2005
Headline: Legendary senator blacklisted at home. Joseph McCarthy is a hard sell in Appleton, Wis., where few markers note him or his place in history as the '50s famed communist inquisitor
Byline: Tim Jones
Excerpt: Poor Joe McCarthy. Can't even catch a break from the locals. As the legendary patron saint of broadcast news, Edward R. Murrow, moved into town this weekend to slay the widely despised U.S. senator from Wisconsin in the new movie "Good Night, and Good Luck," there is hardly a public acknowledgment here that the self-styled warlord of anti-communism, the man whose name became an ism, was once a popular hometown boy of humble origins. To say that Appleton, a thriving city of 71,000, has an awkward relationship with its most notorious son is like saying Florida has issues with hurricanes. In marketing-minded Appleton, McCarthy is the item that simply cannot be sold, which is why the city's other famous son -- magician Harry Houdini -- is the undisputed favorite. Every May 2, on the anniversary of McCarthy's death, a dwindling and aging group of supporters gathers at his grave to remember and discuss ways to repair their hero's image. "This is probably the only town in America where you could find people who had good things to say about Joe McCarthy. To them, McCarthy died on the cross of anti-communism," said Jerald Podair, a history professor at Lawrence University. They, however, represent a tiny minority, said Podair, who tells of people stopping at St. Mary's Cemetery to urinate on McCarthy's grave. There is little argument that McCarthy has almost succeeded in pulling off the ultimate magic trick -- making himself vanish. Appleton now belongs to Houdini. "Who doesn't love Harry Houdini?" asked Podair. "After all, no one named an ism after him."

[The story went out nationally on the Knight Ridder Tribune News Service and appeared in the Los Angeles Times on November 6 under the headline “No Luck for McCarthy Image.”]

Wisconsin State Journal, Madison
November 3, 2005
Headline: Jazz in Appleton
Byline: Kevin Lynch
Excerpt: You may still see some fall color in a drive north to Appleton next weekend. For sure you can catch some big-name jazz at the Lawrence University Jazz Celebration Weekend. Singer Jane Monheit will perform with her quartet and the Lawrence Jazz Singers on Friday, November 11. Trumpeter and flugelhornist Kenny Wheeler will play Saturday, November 12, with the Lawrence University Jazz Ensemble and the Lawrence Jazz Trio. The biggest buzz will be for Monheit, one of a new generation of jazz stylists who has been getting loads of glittery press in the last few years. Monheit snagged second place at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in 1998 - at age 20. By her second album she had attracted such top-notch accompanists as Michael Becker and Tom Harrell. Her 2004 album "Taking a Chance on Love" has remained on the Billboard Top 10 jazz chart since its release. Wheeler has proved himself by extending the Miles Davis sensibility in a wide range of contexts, from chamber jazz to big bands over a long career. He was the last musician to have Keith Jarrett record as a sideman. The Toronto native also shines as a composer with unusual harmonic inventiveness and lyrical grace. Perhaps his best CDs are "Deer Wan" with an all-star quintet and the two-CD "Music for Large and Small Ensembles," both on ECM.

KBTV 4 News, Beaumont, Texas
October 31, 2005
Headline: Happy Halloween!
Excerpt: While much of Halloween is a product of the 20th century the holiday also has roots that go back thousands of years. The Halloween we know today with kids going door-to-door to trick or treat is only about 70 years old. Historically, however, Halloween has it`s roots in the Pagan-Celtic holiday known as Samhain, a festival with bonfires that celebrated the end of summer. Dr. Edmund Kern, a history professor at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, says in the Pagan culture it was thought that at this time of year the boundaries between the material and spiritual worlds were especially permeable and that the dead could return to seek vengeance on the living. While the celebrants engaged in sacrifices to placate the dead, scholars have discounted the notion that there were any human sacrifices. Dr. Kern says Halloween became a secular holiday in the late 19th century. The holiday really took off after World War II when children dressed up in things that were thought to be scary. Images of witches, goblins and ghosts, he says, really did not become part of the celebration until the modern era. Kern says it would be a mistake to draw a direct line between the Celtic holiday of old and the Halloween that is celebrated today.

Viewpoints Weekend Edition, Des Plaines, Illinois
October 23, 2005
Headline: Superstitions: Why do we believe the unbelievable?
Except: The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word superstition as an irrational belief that something unrelated to an event influences its outcome. However irrational the belief and unrelated it might be to the happenings in our lives, many very intelligent and learned people still won't walk under a ladder or utter the name “Macbeth” in a theater. Superstitions have been around for centuries, and get passed down through literature, religion, and word of mouth. But where did they all come from?

Kern: Superstitions have been around in almost all human cultures for as long as we've had historical records, and archaeologists who are more comfortable interpreting other kinds of data would even be willing to push that back further.

Host: Edmund M. Kern is associate professor and chair of the history department at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Kern: One reason for this is that the boundary between religious belief and superstition is oftentimes a hazy or ambiguous one and so whenever one finds examples of religious rites or beliefs one oftentimes finds examples of what would later be categorized as superstitious actions or beliefs as well.

Host: If you ask a person if a religious ritual -- say, wearing a St. Christopher medal when you travel -- is a superstition, there's a good chance they'll be offended, or even get angry. Kern says the difference between the two is how we perceive the results of the ritual.

Kern: Within the United States today, however, there is I think a distinction which should be noted: most religious practices entail the invocation or worship of a higher being, but there's no expectation that that invocation or worship will necessarily produce the desired results, whereas most practices that are categorized as superstitious are assumed to have a kind of automatic effect --if you spill salt, and if you take a pinch and throw it over your left shoulder, that automatically undoes the bad luck of having spilled the salt in the first place, whereas religious rituals don't necessarily have that kind of feature; in other words, there's no guarantee of an automatic response: one petitions a deity rather than engaging in a ritual that has an automatic result.

[Viewpoints is a nationally syndicated radio news magazine produced by Media Tracks Communications and heard on 305 commercial stations each week.]

Wall Street Journal, New York, New York
September 20, 2005
Headline: Behind-the-scenes arts work. Management jobs can combine love of creativity, stable career
Byline: Adelle Waldman
Excerpt: When Heidi Lukas was a little girl in Milton, Wis., she wanted to be a concert pianist. She majored in piano performance at Lawrence University, but by her senior year, she realized that "I didn't have the drive to continue to practice for five hours a day" as a professional musician. Now, she is director of operations for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra -- a post that combines her love of music with the stability of a more traditional office job. Ms. Lukas, 35 years old, achieved what many people with artistic ambitions find themselves aiming for: She translated her creative passion into a solid career. While the odds of succeeding may be better than those of making it as a professional artist, it's not easy. Positions at arts organizations are highly competitive, though salaries are generally lower than in the private sector. Networking is important in the clubby art world. And prowess on the piano isn't enough -- such jobs require the same basic skills as any other corporate position.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia
September 3, 2005
Headline: Accusations spark race-tinged debate. Activists, lawmakers blast administration
Byline: Rick Badie
Excerpt: The state of storm-ravaged New Orleans dominates conversation at Headliners Barbershop in Norcross. Some customers wonder what the reaction would be if the ravaged city had been majority white. They think the relief effort would be in stark contrast to what's taking place right now. On Friday, members of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Black Leadership Forum, the National Urban League and the NAACP held a news conference to decry the delayed response of the federal government. They said it was slow because those most affected are poor. Is it fair to blame skin color for a response that, until Friday, had puttered along, seemingly unable to get food, water and shelter to the displaced? "It's a hard judgment to make," said Jerald Podair, an associate history professor at Lawrence University in Wisconsin who specializes in race relations. But he said disparities in the way the government as well as the country has responded can't be ignored. "If this hurricane had struck an upper middle class white suburb of New Orleans, and the people we saw [suffering] were investment bankers and cardiologists, the response would be much more sustained," said Podair, a white man. "And that's either racism, or just the fact that people relate best to people who look like them." Some diners at Donnie's Country Cookin', a cafeteria in Norcross, see otherwise. Tom Crabtree of Barrow County thinks the calamity's enormity led to an inept response. Not overt or covert racism. Fred Weinberg of Lawrenceville lay blame on everything but race. He faulted the media for repeatedly showing the same footage of looters making off with everything from diapers to beer. He blamed inner-city dwellers for the failing to grasp the severity of the situation, for choosing to stay put and for not finding a means to escape. But Podair, the professor at Lawrence University, said people view events, even catastrophic ones, in personal terms. "As a college professor, I was wondering what happened to Tulane University," he said. "Football fans are wondering what will happen to the Saints. We tend to focus on aspects of a story that interests us. It's a natural reaction."

[The story also ran in the Orange County (California) Register, under the headline: "Storm response brews racial resentment.]