Id
Danielle Hickey I Photo editor
Psychology professor Helen Neville will speak today at the Brain and Education
Workshop in 243 Lillis. The workshop, which continues Saturday, is sponsored by the
University’s Brain Biology and Machine Initiative.
Brain: Evidential support
not required for methods
Continued tram page 1A
“People who can’t focus their
attention, they can’t read, they
can’t play music, they can’t paint
a painting because they don’t have
the focus,” she said.
Neville said that unlike most
other fields today, educators are
not required to provide empirical
support for their methods. She
said that for a time, California
used the whole-word method as
opposed to the phonetics method
to teach reading, although studies
showed that the whole-word
method hinders literacy. Neville
said she now gets students from
California coming to the Universi
ty who tell her they can’t read.
At 9 a.m. Saturday, Michael
Merzenich, a neuroscience profes
sor from the University of Califor
nia, San Francisco, will present
“Neuroscience of Brain Plasticity
as a Foundation Science for Edu
cators.” Merzenich’s laboratory
studies the “neural bases of learn
ing, recognition and memory”;
“mechanisms underlying the ori
gins of functional brain illnesses
and disabilities”; and “strategies
for remediating learning-disabled
and movement-disabled adults
and children,” according to the
laboratory’s Web site.
At 11 a.m. Saturday, Harvard
University psychology professor
Elizabeth Spelke will present “Ori
gins of Knowledge of Number.”
Spelke researches the origins and
development of concepts of ob
jects, people, space and numbers
at Harvard University’s Laborato
ry for Developmental Studies. She
said in an e-mail that most of her
work focuses on human infants
and preschool children but that
she also occasionally studies cog
nition in adult non-human pri
mates and in human adults.
People at Oregon Health & Sci
ence University in Portland, Eastern
Oregon University in La Grande and
the University’s Central Oregon Pro
grams office in Bend will participate
in Saturday’s lectures via simulcast,
which allows them to watch the
presentations on a TV screen as
well as ask questions.
Neville said recordings of the
lectures can be downloaded for
free from the University Brain De
velopment Lab’s Web site,
bdl.uoregon.edu.
evasylwester@dailyemerald.com
Nicole Barker | Photographer
Catherine Perez, left, Matthew Rowan, center, and Stephanie Day have been accepted to Teach For America, a program for which they will
work to reduce social inequity in the education system.
Teach: Corps gives members continuing support
Continued from page 1A
movements and what better way to
learn about that than an education
reform movement?”
Day wrote that she is trying to set
realistic goals for herself to prepare
for the demanding job of teaching
in a new city far from family
and friends.
“I have only been to Washington,
D.C., once, but it is an exciting
place,” Day wrote. “It is amazing
that with all of the nation’s social
inequalities, one of the largest lies
outride the doors of the nation’s
capital. But 1 think that will be in
spiring rather than discouraging.”
Maren Elliott, recruitment direc
tor of the Northwest Recruitment
Team for Teach for America, said in
an e-mail that in addition to region
al inductions, or orientation peri
ods, Teach for America provides on
going support for corps members.
“Teach For America provides the
resources and guidance they’ll need to
succeed during their two years in the
classroom,” Elliott wrote. “This sup
port includes organizing groups of
corps members and alumni teaching
in similar grad/subject areas, schedul
ing workshops and retreats and work
ing with area school districts or
schools of education to provide profes
sional development opportunities.”
Perez, a double major in Spanish
and political science and a business
administration minor, will be going to
Los Angeles to teach special education
in a secondary school. She said she’s
not as nervous or anxious as she is ex
cited about the whole experience.
“L.A. was my top choice,” Perez
said. “I’m extremely excited be
cause this program gives me the op
portunity to work firsthand with
children, which is something I’ve
always wanted to do.”
Perez said her long-standing goal
of being involved in Teach for
America is a great opportunity for
her to get involved in the issue of
r
educational inequity.
“As much as protesting and rallying
helps raise awareness about these in
equities, it’s the one-on-one interaction
with the students that’s really going to
make a difference,” Perez said. “I’m
honored to be a part of it.”
Rowan will be teaching in English
as a second language classes in
New York City this fall.
“As a political science major, social
inequity in education is an issue that
definitely interests me. In fact, I’m
writing my thesis on it,” Rowan said.
“The educational system deserves
more attention, and it’s a very
important issue. ”
Rowan, whose parents are both
teachers, said more people need to vol
unteer to bring up this issue and to
raise the standard of education.
“I’m hoping I can make a difference
by instilling my love of learning into
the students,” Rowan said.
bmcclenahan @ dailyemerald. com
DO YOU WORK
IN A BAR??
The Multnomah County Health Department
is recruiting bar workers who are not exposed
to secondhand smoke for a study.
Workers Will Receive $50 For Participating
IN ORDER TO DO THIS WORKERS MUST:
• Be currently employed in a bar
posted off-limits to minors
• Be employed in the city of Eugene
or Corvallis (or anywhere else
in Benton County)
• Be at least 18 years old
• Be a non-smoker
THESE WORKERS MUST AGREE TO:
• Sign a consent form
• Complete an interview
(about 15-20 minutes)
• Provide a urine sample before and
after a work shift (to measure
by-products of cigarette smoke only)
No Travel Required
All Information Will Be Kept Strictly Confidential
| IF INTERESTED,
\PLEASECAU 1-877-877-5654
ealth Department
Do the math
Save money
0
Lane offers credit courses that you can use for
graduation at UO—for*just $67 per credit. Figure out
how much money you can save.
Enrolling is easy. Summer classes begin June 20.
For more information about summer classes at Lane*
visit www.lanecc.edu.
^Lane
Community College sm
an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution