Brain research / White House internship / Transcription projects / Museum exhibit

Brain researchers turn to cherries

Senior Rachel Miller, a neuroscience major from Farmington Hills, psychology professor Justin Oh-Lee, and senior Laura Tackett, a school psychology major from Shelby Township, conduct research that could lead to new treatments for people with Parkinson’s disease.

Research offers new hope in fighting brain diseases

CMU researchers will study the powerful antioxidants in tart cherries and omega-3 essential fatty acids from emu and fish oils with a goal of finding treatments for people with common neurological diseases.

Students and faculty in CMU’s Brain Research and Integrative Neuroscience Center have teamed up with northern Michigan-based Cerise Nutraceuticals to research opportunities to treat people with Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s diseases.

CMU researchers and Cerise Nutraceutical’s president Raymond M. Pleva announced the two-part research project in November.

Instrumental in sparking research that identified the first antioxidant in cherries, Pleva has inspired scientific interest that has identified 17 antioxidant compounds in cherries. Expanded research has linked the antioxidants to anti-inflammatory effects against joint and muscle pain, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

The project is being funded by Cerise through $25,000 grants awarded to two CMU research teams.

Testing new Parkinson’s treatments

One part of the project combines novel proprietary controlled delivery of a cherry-based compound developed by Cerise with an alternative treatment method for Parkinson’s disease developed by Justin D. Oh-Lee, an associate professor of psychology and director of CMU’s Applied Experimental Psychology Program.

Oh-Lee and his colleagues are looking for ways to deliver natural biological compounds, such as those found in Cerise products, to reduce side effects of Parkinson’s disease, such as dyskinesia, a frequent complication that can cause a severe loss of muscle control affecting a person’s ability to perform even simple tasks of daily living. Spasms can cause uncontrollable muscle contractions that are extremely painful and may lead to serious injury.

“If the therapeutic benefits of the Cerise compound are demonstrated, the results of the study will form the basis for additional clinical development and enable licensing of the technology by Cerise for further human trials,” said Oh-Lee. “This study is thus highly significant, as it will have immediate implications to improve the quality of life for Parkinson’s patients.”

Reducing memory deficits in Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s

Another group of CMU researchers, led by Gary Dunbar, professor of psychology and director of the Neuroscience Program and the Brain Research and Integrative Neuroscience Center at CMU, will be testing the efficacy of this product in reducing memory deficits associated with Huntington’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

“We are pleased to be able to provide our services to Cerise to help them evaluate whether their product protects against memory deficits,” said Dunbar. “There is a growing body of evidence indicating that omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants may reduce neurodegenerative processes, which makes the Cerise product an attractive candidate for treating neurodegenerative disorders.

“No matter what the outcome of our tests reveal, our work with Cerise will provide an avenue for students in my lab to engage in important applied research and will further our understanding of these devastating, mind-robbing diseases, giving us new insights in our search for finding effective treatments.”

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CMU student spends semester at White House

When a White House staffer called Timothy Burger’s house last summer, his wife first thought it was a prank call.  Thankfully, she stayed on the line long enough to learn that Timothy had been selected to interview for an internship at the White House.

After completing three phone interviews, Burger received word that he had been accepted into the highly competitive White House Internship Program.

“I felt incredibly honored that they had accepted me,” said Burger. “Working at the White House has always been a dream of mine. Washington, D.C. is my Emerald City.”

White House personnel select 100 interns each fall, spring and summer. Burger, who will graduate from CMU with a master’s degree in political science in 2008, had worried that his age and career path might be a disadvantage during the selection process.

“I wasn’t sure if they would take an application from a 36-year-old with a bachelor’s degree in engineering management very seriously,” said Burger.

Burger’s internship began September 5 and ended December 15. He worked in the Office of Presidential Messages, where he helped produce one-page messages from the President for groups and organizations celebrating milestone anniversaries. He also helped produce religious holiday messages for Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan and Kwanza among others.

“The absolute awe that I felt the first time I entered the White House remained throughout the three months of my internship,” said Burger.

“It is the most humbling feeling to enter a building where so much of our country’s history has been centered. The decisions made in that building for the past 206 years, both good and bad, have shaped our country. Knowing that in some very small way I added to that history still makes my hair stand on end.”

Burger’s most memorable moment came during the intern photo day with President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Having already prepared a question in case the opportunity ever presented itself, Burger’s hand shot up first when President Bush offered to answer questions from the interns.

“President Bush motioned to me first and all eyes turned to look. My face felt flushed and everything moved in slow motion,” said Burger. “I could have been speaking in another language for all I knew. Apparently I wasn’t because when I finished speaking he thanked me and responded to my comment for the next ten minutes. I missed the first couple of minutes because of the ringing in my head and the fog of disbelief over having spoken to arguably the most powerful man on the planet.”

Another memorable experience was participating in a September 11 ceremony on the South Lawn.

“The Cabinet members stood in the front row directly in front of me. Then Vice President Cheney, Mrs. Cheney and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher walked out and led the group in a moment of silence. It was very moving, and I was honored to be a part of it,” said Burger.

Now that he has fulfilled his dream of working in the White House, Burger hopes to share what he’s learned with others through teaching at a community college and inspiring his future students to serve the country in some capacity.

“I feel tremendous satisfaction in serving this country,” said Burger. “I was honored to serve in the Marines under President Reagan and President Bush 41, and through my public service activities I can continue to serve the country in a different but equally satisfying manner.”

Burger also hopes that other students will pursue internships to help develop and strengthen their career aspirations.

“Classroom learning supplies you with the basic language and tools needed to survive in any career, but an internship is an excellent way to immerse yourself into a job and learn more about an organization. The contacts you make and the things you learn are invaluable.”

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Window to the past

Graduate students bring new life to family artifacts

The great Alaskan adventure

Montague graduate student Curtis Burdette never met his great-great-grandfather Nathaniel T. Wile, but a special research project at CMU led him to first-hand accounts of Wile’s gold-seeking adventures in Alaska more than 100 years ago.

Wile was a 42-year-old farmer from Indiana when he left behind his wife and seven children to travel with five others from rural Carroll County to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898.

Burdette has uncovered more than 100 pages worth of letters, dozens of photographs, the journals where Wile tracked his expenses, and other documents related to the trip. Several museums have copies of the letters, but the family maintains the originals.

Burdette is now transcribing and editing Wile’s manuscripts to create one large volume that will preserve, organize and explain the social and historical context of various elements of the trip.

“The letters home to his wife and family often seemed like journal entries because he recorded his adventures and personal thoughts as he traveled,” said Burdette. “He describes the train ride from Chicago to Seattle, the steamship ride to Alaska, and his inland travels across Alaska to reach the area where other prospectors had found gold.”

Wile wrote several letters each week and often described the men he met or traveled with. His wife and children also sent letters to keep him updated on events in Carroll County including a court case, a visiting preacher and a local wedding.

“Nathaniel was a very passionate man,” said Burdette. “His letters describe the beauty of the Alaskan frontier and how much he enjoys the adventure. He seems to romanticize the potential for riches and downplays the hardships.”

Through his research, Burdette also has reviewed many books, articles and persuasive advertisements that were used to entice gold seekers to Alaska.

“Officials from the U.S. and Canada tried to warn prospectors of the harsh conditions in Alaska, but this was during the era of yellow journalism, so many disregarded these warnings,” said Burdette.

“Wile’s enthusiasm in the letters suggests that his enjoyment of Alaska was genuine. Despite spending six months and nearly $600 without finding gold, Wile experienced one of the greatest adventures of his life: a trek through the last American pioneer land.”

Burdette began his transcription project in ENG 638: Seminar in Textual Analysis and Editing. He is completing several new chapters this semester to fulfill his thesis requirements to receive a master’s degree in composition and communication from CMU in May. After graduation, he plans to develop his project into a book-length work and have it published.

Photo caption: Curtis Burdette displays some of the letters, photographs and books that his great-great-grandfather kept as mementos of his trek to Alaska in search of gold.

Letters from a lost love

When she was a child, DeWitt graduate student Heather Tracy loved listening to her great-grandmother share stories about her romance with baseball legend Ted Williams. Now with the help of old letters and a scrapbook, Tracy is learning more about her great-grandmother’s mysterious past.

“My great-grandmother, Peggy Ware, left her children to have a life of her own, so my grandmother and mother grew up without her in their lives,” said Tracy. “During Peggy’s final years, they were able to reconcile their relationship, but it is still valuable for us to know what her life was like away from our family.”

The letters were written to Ware by Williams and his daughter, Bobby Jo, between 1954 and 1960. Tracy also is studying a scrapbook that Ware filled with newspaper articles about Williams and ticket stubs from the many baseball games she attended.

Her goal in undertaking this historical editing project is to preserve and authenticate the letters and provide a relevant geographical and social context for the letters and the relationship between Ware and Williams. This project also will fulfill Tracy’s thesis requirements to receive a master’s degree in composition and communication from CMU this summer.

“Peggy’s relationship with Ted began in March of 1954 while she was living in Chicago,” said Tracy. “I believe that they remained close for about four years, because she has ticket stubs from his games up until September of 1958.”

Because the relationship began shortly after Williams filed for divorce from his first wife, they were not a public couple. They also spent a great deal of time apart.

“Ted spent most of his time in Boston and Florida and Peggy lived in Chicago, but she attended many of his games when he traveled to Chicago. I also know that Ted brought Peggy on some fishing trips with him, so they may have spent a significant amount of time together during his off-season,” said Tracy.

Although the specifics of how the relationship ended are unclear, Tracy believes her great-grandmother considered Ted the love of her life.

“She talked about him and their experiences together all of the time and treasured her scrapbook and his letters,” said Tracy. “I’ve also discovered that she called and wrote to him up until her death in 2002.”

In addition to learning more about her great-grandmother, Tracy is excited that her project will provide new information about one of America’s baseball icons.

“As far as I know, no one has analyzed love letters written by Ted Williams. This project will offer a view of Ted that is less familiar to the public.”

Photo caption: Heather Tracy holds a photograph of her great-grandmother, Peggy Ware, who saved letters and photographs from her former boyfriend and baseball legend Ted Williams.

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Museum opens first new exhibit in 13 years

A rare reptile called a Tuatara from islands near New Zealand, a poster from 1917 on the effects of alcohol, a drum made by a member of a Pigmy tribe in the Congo and a CMU beanie are all part of the Museum of Cultural and Natural History’s first new exhibit in 13 years.

The museum’s new exhibit, “CMU’s Best Kept Secret -- Bicycles, Beanies and Birds . . . Oh My,” was designed by students in the Introduction to Museum Work course last fall. This exhibit, which will run through May 7, is in the museum’s temporary exhibit gallery, adjacent to the main exhibit, which illustrates how Michigan’s animal and human inhabitants have formed the modern Michigan landscape.

For the new exhibit, students chose objects from the more than 50,000 artifacts in CMU’s collections, most of which have never been on public display.

“Creating this exhibit was an excellent opportunity to prepare for the challenges of working in a museum or art gallery,” said Hesperia senior Jessie Hornbrook, who will graduate from CMU with a fine arts degree in May. “The experience was labor-intensive and challenged our organizational and communication skills, but we enjoyed the challenge and felt as if we established a museum ‘family’ throughout the semester.”

In addition to selecting the artifacts, Hornbrook and her classmates held fundraisers, designed posters, cleaned vitrines, painted pedestals and created descriptive labels for each of the displays.

Grand Rapids senior Kit Anderson says she is passionate about preserving history so that future generations can have insight into her world and learn about previous generations. She was happy to participate in nearly every facet of creating the new exhibit.

“During months of planning and hard work, we relied on contributions from every individual in the class to complete this extensive project,” said Anderson. “This was a good opportunity to learn what will be expected of us if we work in museums in the future.”

Hornbrook’s favorite display in the exhibit describes the evolution of campus life at CMU, including the traditional ‘donning of the beanie’ to signify freshman status and the ‘End of the World’ parties.

“One object that I chose for this display is a poster that describes the dangers of alcohol abuse. It was utilized during Prohibition to discourage drinking and to illustrate the physical and moral peril that occurs when one ‘indulges’ in alcohol,” she said.

Anderson, who will graduate in May of 2008 with a major in visual art education K-12 and a minor in art history and museum studies, said her favorite artifact is the CMU beanie.

“It is a reminder of the CMU students who walked this campus and studied in the stacks before us. It is a tangible representation of the history, tradition and spirit of CMU.”

The museum is open Mondays through Fridays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. The museum is located in CMU’s Rowe Hall, which is on the corner of Bellows Street and East Campus Drive.

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