Recent discoveries about the relationship between blood vessel growth and heart size could open new possibilities in heart disease therapies, a study done by Dartmouth Medical School researchers reports. The research, announced in the November issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, indicates that blood vessel density directly controls organ size. Dr. Michael Simons, professor of medicine and of pharmacology and toxicology, led the research team in inducing angiogenesis (blood vessel growth) in laboratory mice. The mice's hearts doubled in size over a six-week period with increased density in vessels. Once researchers stopped inducing vessel growth, organ size remained constant and the heart functioned better. This discovery has real implications for cardiovascular problems, as mice that suffered from a heart attack benefited from induced blood vessel growth.
Tuck School of Business held its 14th annual student-run Diversity Conference, which aims to address a lack of diversity in business, from Nov. 1-4. The conference includes current and potential Tuck students, faculty, staff and alumni as well as visiting executives. According to Dia Draper, associate director of admissions for minority student recruitment, the goal of the conference is to build a more diverse class of future leaders. "It is really important for us to give minorities a high level of access to an institution like Tuck," Draper said in a Tuck press release. Conference organizers hope to improve the positions of minorities in the business world. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, one out of three U.S. residents is a minority, but African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans currently compose less than five percent of the top-level business leaders, Draper said.
Students gathered outside of the Collis Center front porch to declare a "State of Emergency" in the American judicial system on Nov. 5. The rally, sponsored by the Dartmouth chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was organized to raise awareness about the highly-publicized "Jena 6" case and other legal cases that concern issues of racial prejudice. Lamar Moss '07, president of Dartmouth's NAACP chapter, said that the goal of the rally was to question why hate crimes persist in modern society and to examine civil injustice in the criminal system, rather than to defend the accused students of the Jena 6. The rally was followed by a dinner featuring Peter Burns, visiting professor of public policy and Samantha Ivery, the assistant dean of student life and advisor to black students.
