University Of Chicago

CHICAGO -- Roger Myerson spent the bulk of his career as an economic theorist at Northwestern University, but when the telephone call came from Sweden he was on the faculty of the University of Chicago. Myerson and two other Americans were awarded the Nobel Prize in economics yesterday, adding to the University of Chicago's reputation as a powerhouse in the study of economics. "I could tell by the Swedish accents that it was a different kind of call," said Myerson, described as a brilliant economist and a decent harmonica player.

Dr. Brian Cornblatt has been appointed manager of the Oncology Research Office at the Cancer Institute at St. Joseph Medical Center. Cornblatt earned his Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University. His work has been published in Cancer Research and Biochemical Pharmacology. Dr. Elliot McVeigh has been named the new director of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University. Howard County General Hospital has appointed Sharon P. Hadsell as senior vice president of patient care services.

Talk shows began to fascinate me when I was a teenager, many years ago. The first was the old radio program, The University of Chicago Roundtable. Over the years I also began to listen to Meet the Press and to watch David Susskind's television roundtable program, Open End, and many others. In more recent years, I can't bear to watch most of the talk shows on television, and on radio I listen only to Rush Limbaugh and a couple of others. What has happened? Is it just my becoming ornery in my old age, or have the programs changed?

Alan Moore scored 22 points last night to lead host Frostburg State to a 93-88 upset of Mary Washington, which was ranked No. 22 in Division III, in the opening round of the 84 Lumber Classic.The Bobcats (5-4) advance to play Wilberforce today in the title game. Mary Washington (5-2) turned the ball over 36 times.Johns Hopkins 58, University of Chicago 57: Junior forward Joel Wertman scored a game-high 21 points and added eight rebounds to power Johns Hopkins (8-2, 3-2) past visiting Chicago.

IT'S A SAD IRONY THAT racial segregation changed Rebecca Carroll's life -- for the better.In a sense, segregation led her to a husband, a graduate degree and a career leading to the second rung of the Baltimore school administration.Carroll, who died last week at age 81, was one of hundreds of African-American teachers treated by Maryland taxpayers to fine graduate programs in other states lest they sully the lily-white University of Maryland.After she graduated with honors from then-Coppin Teachers College, Rebecca Evans earned her master's degree at the University of Chicago, all expenses paid by her home state.

Henry Steele Commager, one of the nation's most distinguished historians and teachers, a prolific author, editor and essayist, and an eloquent defender of the Constitution, died yesterday at his home in Amherst, Mass. He was 95.For decades, the name Henry Steele Commager was synonymous with American history. Starting in the 1930s, he published a torrent of histories, biographies, textbooks, anthologies and inquiries into the nature of democracy and the American mind.He also taught history and American studies for 66 years, 36 of them at Amherst College, 18 at Columbia University and 12 at New York University.

In the midst of White House scandal and fall elections, an impromptu poll of pollsters and political scientists on polling produces the usual mixed results, with at least a 4 percent margin of error.Despite doubts, dismissals and denials, polls of every sort continue to proliferate like rabbits on Viagra and spout out information as fast as a well-oiled Gatling gun.Politicians from President Clinton to the local dogcatcher seem to take polls daily, if not hourly.Indeed, Clinton uses polls more than any other president has, says Iva Deutcher, a political scientist at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, in Geneva, N.Y."

Happiness is so important to Americans that the right to pursue it is guaranteed in our Declaration of Independence.So what is this happiness thing, anyway?"

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, known for its "genius" grants, has named as its president Jonathan Fanton, the president of the New School in New York.Fanton, who will succeed Adele Smith Simmons in September, will earn about $400,000 a year.The foundation, based in Chicago, is one of the 10 largest in the United States, with assets of about $4 billion and annual spending of about $150 million."Being president really fits with the things I've done all my life," Fanton said in a telephone interview last week from Chicago, xTC referring to his work in human rights, community development, education and the arts.

Alberto Calderon, 77, considered one of the century's most influential mathematicians, died Thursday in Chicago after a short illness. Professor emeritus of mathematics at the University of Chicago, he was best known for his contributions to mathematical analysis, the large branch of mathematics that includes calculus, infinite series and the analysis of functions.Alberto Bovone, 75, an ailing Italian prelate who became a cardinal two months ago, died Friday. His death in a Rome hospital reduced to 118 the number of cardinals under age 80 who are eligible to vote for the next pope.

CHICAGO -- The parent company of The Baltimore Sun and its creditors are in the early stages of negotiating a plan of reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court that sources said likely would transfer control of the troubled media conglomerate from Chicago billionaire Sam Zell to a group of large banks and investors that holds $8.6 billion in senior debt. The plan is still taking shape, the sources said, and much could change as negotiations continue. But the general contours of a new capital structure for the Tribune Co. are coming into focus, and the plan centers on a debt-for-equity swap that probably would give the senior lenders a large majority ownership stake in the reorganized company.

U.S. declares Iraq security pact final BAGHDAD: The U.S. responded yesterday to Iraqi proposals for changes in the draft security pact that would keep American troops here for three more years, saying it now considers the text final and it is up to Iraq's government to push the process to approval. U.S. and Iraqi officials would not release details of Washington's response, which was contained in a letter from President Bush to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. But a senior Iraqi official familiar with the negotiations said Washington accepted some proposals and rejected others, presumably an Iraqi demand for expanded legal authority over American troops and Defense Department contractors.

*The Institute for Foot and Ankle Reconstruction at Mercy Medical Center has hired Dr. Rebecca A Cerrato, a fellow under Dr. Mark Myerson's Foot and Ankle Fellowship. She is a graduate of the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. She completed several residency programs, including one at the University of Chicago Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation and another at the Georgetown University Department of Orthopaedics. Cerrato has research experience at the Institute of Foot and Ankle Reconstruction, the National Institute of Health/NIAMS and the University of Chicago Department of Orthopaedics.

CHICAGO -- A tide of recent research on early childhood development is inspiring prominent scientists and politicians to argue for an unprecedented investment in schooling that begins virtually at birth. But as decades of academic studies on brain development start to land in the real world, experts are divided on whether to focus new funding on infants and toddlers, or conventional preschool. Many now think that some policies popular with politicians and the public, such as universal pre-kindergarten, may fail to reach at-risk kids at a young enough age to achieve significant benefits.

CHICAGO -- Roger Myerson spent the bulk of his career as an economic theorist at Northwestern University, but when the telephone call came from Sweden he was on the faculty of the University of Chicago. Myerson and two other Americans were awarded the Nobel Prize in economics yesterday, adding to the University of Chicago's reputation as a powerhouse in the study of economics. "I could tell by the Swedish accents that it was a different kind of call," said Myerson, described as a brilliant economist and a decent harmonica player.

Dr. Brian Cornblatt has been appointed manager of the Oncology Research Office at the Cancer Institute at St. Joseph Medical Center. Cornblatt earned his Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University. His work has been published in Cancer Research and Biochemical Pharmacology. Dr. Elliot McVeigh has been named the new director of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University. Howard County General Hospital has appointed Sharon P. Hadsell as senior vice president of patient care services.

WASHINGTON -- The No Child Left Behind law is leaving too many children behind. Why? Maybe we're setting our standards too high. That startling possibility comes from two University of Chicago economists as Congress begins debate on the reauthorization of the 5-year-old law. At the center of the complicated debate is a simple goal: Every child in the nation should be "proficient" in math and reading by 2014. I don't think that's an unreasonable goal, depending on how high you set the bar for proficient.

Jerome Styrt, a Baltimore psychiatrist who had a private practice and supervised psychiatry students at several area hospitals, died June 10 of pneumonia stemming from complications after a hip fracture at Keswick Multi-Care Center in Baltimore. The Roland Park resident was 87. Dr. Styrt was born and raised in Chicago and earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry the University of Chicago. His colleagues at the University of Chicago Clinics encouraged him to go to medical school. He earned his medical degree in 1945 from the University of Chicago School of Medicine, and went on to a residency at the Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital in Towson.

CHICAGO -- When Atlanta won the right to hold the 1996 Olympics, it was like finding out that the unremarkable kid from Mrs. Smith's fifth-grade class - the kid whose only talent seemed to be belching his name - had gone on to own a Fortune 500 company. It still boggles the mind that the world came to Atlanta's doorstep without ringing the bell and running away. But there is the more relevant thought that if Atlanta was able to beat out some world-class cities to win the 1996 Games, then Chicago should have no problem giving a beat-down to the likes of Tokyo and Rome for the 2016 Olympics.

Talk shows began to fascinate me when I was a teenager, many years ago. The first was the old radio program, The University of Chicago Roundtable. Over the years I also began to listen to Meet the Press and to watch David Susskind's television roundtable program, Open End, and many others. In more recent years, I can't bear to watch most of the talk shows on television, and on radio I listen only to Rush Limbaugh and a couple of others. What has happened? Is it just my becoming ornery in my old age, or have the programs changed?