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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (June 22, 2011)
local news Spending continued from page 1 “Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now” sible private takeover of the state’s liquor-dis- tribution system. Gregoire faced pressure in recent days to veto parts or all of various proposals. State Auditor Brian Sonntag had asked her to veto millions of dollars in cuts to perform- ance audits. But Gregoire reluctantly declined, saying she could not pull money away from audit positions at the Department of Revenue or a fraud unit at the Department of Social and Health Services. “I understand and am sympathetic to his concerns,” she said. Meanwhile, groups in favor of privatizing the liquor-distribution system had actually been pushing for her to veto a bill or key parts of the bill that would consider privatization. They were concerned about a bidding process that would take place at the same time the groups are pushing a ballot initiative that would establish a private system. Gregoire declined to veto it. She said she could not rule out getting a privatization con- tract done before the election, although she said it would be difficult. “It’s not political for me at all,” Gregoire said. “What it is, is doing the due diligence in a thoughtful manner so that we can see what the alternatives might be — but not that any one of the alternatives would be eliminated before the election.” Gregoire did veto many small sections of the B ErNIE F OSTEr Founder/Publisher B OBBIE D OrE F OSTEr executive editor T ED B aNKS advertising Manager J ErrY F OSTEr account executive L ISa L OvINg news editor B rIaN S TIMSON reporter D avID K IDD graphic Designer M ONICa J. F OSTEr Seattle office Coordinator J uLIE K EEFE S uSaN F rIED Photographers in October 1975, is a weekly publica- IMM Publications Inc., Nature, focused on how the brain reacts to stress caused by other people. To do that, investigators had volunteers lie in a brain scanner and solve math problems. The volunteers expected easy prob- lems, but they were in fact hard enough that each volunteer ended up getting most of them wrong. While in the scanner, volunteers heard a researcher criticize their poor performance, saying it was surprisingly bad and disappoint- ing, and telling the volunteers they might not be skilled enough to participate. An initial study with 32 volun- teers found city-urban differences in two brain areas. One was the amygdala, which reacts to threats in one’s environment, and the 415 N. Killingsworth St., P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228. Telephone (503) 285-5555. E-mail: info@theskanner.com World Wide Web site: http://www.theskanner.com Fax: (503) 285-2900 the Skanner is a member of the Pub lishers Association and West Coast Black Pub - lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of the Skanner. We are not re - spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. © 2011 the Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE SERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED. c volatile energy prices, trouble in financial markets worldwide and an economic slow- down in Asia. The state’s chief economist, Arun Raha, says he expects the state’s economic growth to pick up momentum later this year. Gregoire and lawmakers have set aside $738 million in reserves to handle revenue declines in the months to come. They say they hope that will be enough buffer to get the state to 2012, when lawmakers will return for a new legislative session. continued from page 1 tion, published each Wednesday by Newspaper gov. Chris gregoire Stress The Skanner Newspaper, established National budget, including a study that would have examined the feasibility of requiring direct deposit for state employees, a $100,000 plan to create a commission examining whether state agencies were duplicating services, and a variety of other provisions that relied on bills that did not pass. The budget also includes a 3 percent reduc- tion in pay for state employees — something enforced through unpaid leave. Some retired teachers and state employees will no longer get automatic cost-of-living pension increases. Gregoire, who came into office in 2005, announced earlier this week that she would not seek a third term in office, saying it was time for her to move on to something else. She said Wednesday the grueling budget process was not a factor in that decision. Attention now turns to tax revenues in the months to come. Anticipating an ongoing decline in revenues, Gregoire and lawmakers have set aside $738 million in order to bridge the gap between now and next year’s legisla- tive session. Gregoire had been pushing for reserves to be closer to $800 million. Washington’s economists also last week pro- jected the state will bring in $183 million less in revenue than previously expected during the upcoming two-year budget cycle. The updated revenue forecast released Thursday says there are still several risks that could cause further declines. That includes o m m u n other was circuitry that regulates the amygdala. Researchers found that volunteers from cities of more than 100,000 showed more activa- tion of the amygdala than partici- pants from towns of more than 10,000, and those in turn showed more activation than people from rural areas. To assess any effect of where the volunteers grew up, the researchers assigned each an “urbanicity” score based on how many years they’d spent by age 15 in a city, town or rural area. The higher the score, the more urban their childhood life was, and the more activity showed up in the amygdala-regulating circuitry during the experiment. A slightly different stress-pro- ducing test produced similar I t y c results with a different group of 23 volunteers. But when a third group of 37 adults did mental tasks without being criticized for poor perform- ance, they showed no urban-rural differences. That shows the effect comes from the criticism rather than just doing the mental task, the researchers said. The study can’t reveal why city life would boost the brain responses, but it could be because of the stress from dealing with other people, said Dr. Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, director of the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim, Germany, and sen- ior author of the report. Animal studies suggest that early expo- sure to stress can cause lasting effects, he said. a l e n d Jens Pruessner, a study co- author from the Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Montreal, said the study illustrates a new avenue for understanding the risk factors for developing mental illness. An expert in emotion and the brain who wasn’t involved with the study, Elizabeth Phelps of New York University, said it’s premature to draw conclusions about what the results mean for mental illness. “These results are interesting but preliminary,” she said. “This will raise a lot of interest in this idea. Whether or not it pans out in future research, who knows, but I think it’s worth investigating.” a r S eattle J une 2011 District. Noon harbor Steps, 1221 1st ave. Bring your lunch and enjoy the concert. Saturday June 25 If you have an event you want to share with the community, email it two weeks in advance to The Skanner at info@theskanner.com Friday June 24 ouT To luNCh CoNCErT – ThE MalDiVES: This concert series is presented by Chrystal Mountain and produced by Metropolitan improvement Page 2 The Seattle Skanner June 22, 2011 16Th aNNual iNTErNaTioNal FESTiVal iN SEa-TaC. The festival will feature a skateboard competition, a cultural village, live entertainment, craft and food vendors and much more. 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. angle lake Park, 19408 international Blvd. SToCK uP oN SuMMEr rEaDiNg! More than 10,000 items will be for sale at bargain prices at the Friends of The Seattle Public library Summer Book Sale. 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. at warren g. Magnuson Park, 7400 Sand Point way NE. Sunday June 26 BiCYClE SuNDaY: Bicycle or walk along lake washington Blvd. South of Mt. Baker Beach to Seward Park entrance. 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. 2521 lake Park Dr. Saturday thru Monday July 2 – 4 2011 laKE uNioN wooDEN BoaT FESTiVal: The festival will include visiting vessels, free public boat rides, activities for all ages and more. Saturday & Sunday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. The Center for wooden Boats, 1010 Valley St.
