The Observer, April 21, 2006
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 25
The Brief Case
Intellectual property rights to be hot topic at conference
Approximately 100 scholars from all over the globe will gather at Case today through Sunday to discuss intellectual property rights. The conference, titled "Con/texts of Invention," is being convened by the Society for Critical Exchange, a national organization dedicated to collaborative interdisciplinary scholarship in theory. Other co-sponsors include the the Case School of Law's Center for Law, Technology, and the Arts; the Case Department of English; Harvard University's History of Science Department; the Washington College of Law at American University; and the Morris Fishbein Center for the History of Science and Medicine at the University of Chicago.
This conference will continue the inquiries made at a previous conference, "Authorship and Intellectual Property" which the law school hosted in 1991, according to Gerald Korngold, dean and McCurdy Professor of Law. "We are very pleased to again be the venue for pursuit of this important field of intellectual inquiry by a distinguished group of international scholars," he said.
Some of the topics to be discussed include, "Personhood, The Body and Intellectual Property," "Open Source, Free Software, Creative Commons," "What Is An Author Now," "Interrogating Key Concepts," and "Networks of Invention."
The conference will not be open to the public, but Case students will be admitted with an ID. For more information, call Dawn Richards at 216-368-5135.
Entrepreneurs driven by genes?
Scott Shane, the Mixon Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management; Nicos Nicolaou, a lecturer in entrepreneurship at the Tanaka School of Business of Imperial College London; and Janice Hunkin, Lynn Cherkas, and Tim Spector of the Twin Research & Genetic Epidemiology Unit at St Thomas' Hospital in London, home of the UK Twin registry of over 10,000 twins, collaborated in a study that researches entrepreneurial drive.
No one knows exactly what makes entrepreneurs more prone to taking risks, but the collaborative study determined that the reason may be found in the genetic make-up.
The researchers compared the rates of entrepreneurship among more than 1200 pairs of twins, both identical and fraternal. Their study determined that nearly half of a person's drive to become self-employed is genetic.
Researchers proposed different theories by which genes controlled a person's entrepreneurial drive. One such theory states that genes may predispose a person to develop specific traits to become extroverted and sociable that then lead to self-employment.
This study shows a clear genetic predisposition toward entrepreneurship and makes it possible to proceed now with studies to identify the specific genes involved in being an entrepreneur.
Professor to extend expertise to Ukraine
Victor Groza, professor of social work at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University, will aid the Ukranian government in placing children into families through adoption or foster care. These children have been in institutions formed under the old Soviet system.
Groza is an international adoption and child welfare expert with much experience in Romania and India as well as the United States.
"However great the condition of the institutions, it is no place for a child growing up," said Groza, about the reasons Ukraine is taking these progressive steps to make major reforms to its child welfare system.
He began the 18-month project with Ukraine's State Institute of the Ministry for Family, Youth and Sports in January. The project is supported by Holt Children Services International, an organization that he has also worked with in Romania and India.
A part of Groza's work with the project includes training and setting up research to gain evidence for the programs. He will also meet a number of times with the Ukranian social service leaders.
