Happenings on the Hill
Big business school gifts
A $5 million gift to SMU’s Edwin L. Cox School of Business will create the Katy and Kyle Miller Courtyard, a place for faculty, staff, students, and visitors to exchange ideas, form friendships, and build business associations.
The gift from Katy A. and Kyle Miller follows a $6 million one from Kim and Bill Shaddock to establish Shaddock Hall, including flexible spaces, a dedicated business library reading room, expansive classrooms, the dean’s boardroom, a 20-seat conference room, and other offices.
SMU has now raised $90 million for the significant expansion and renovation of the Cox School and aims to raise the final $30 million needed to break ground on the project by April 2022.
Arts advocate
As a Nasher Haemisegger Fellow, Ted Russell is spending two years as an ambassador for SMU DataArts, a national research center based at the Meadows School of the Arts.
“I’m looking forward to serving as an intellectual partner for this respected and influential institution, especially in the era of big data when analysis can help the arts sector better understand organizational health and advance movements for equity,” Russell said.
At the Rainin Foundation, he provides strategic direction, supporting diverse, visionary artists and collaborating with artists, partners, and funders.
Russell also chairs the board of Grantmakers in the Arts, which brings together public and private arts and culture funders.
Unspeedy trials
“Justice delayed is justice denied” goes a well-known legal maxim.
According to a study from SMU Dedman School of Law’s Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center, that proves particularly true when defendants’ initial court appearances get delayed.
After arrest, a detained person can wait in jail for days, weeks, or even months before seeing a judge or meeting an attorney, according to Ending Injustice: Solving the Initial Appearance Crisis.
“Without the guarantee of a prompt post-arrest court appearance and the assistance of a lawyer, the Supreme Court has failed to protect two pillars of our justice system, the Due Process right to access to the courts and the Sixth Amendment right to counsel,” center director Pamela Metzger said.
Find the full report at DeasonCenter.org.
Weekday pills
College students who misuse prescription drugs do so more often during the week and when they are alone at home, according to a recent study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
The study asked students at a large midwestern university whether they used medications in ways doctors did not intend, such as changing allowed dosages and frequency or using another’s prescription medication.
“Whereas other studies have shown that alcohol use, and to some extent marijuana use, is most likely to occur in social situations with peers and on the weekends, we found that the context of prescription drug misuse appears to be different,” co-author Chrystyna D. Kouros said.
Kouros, an associate professor, directs the Family Health & Development Lab in SMU’s Department of Psychology. The study’s title is College-based social and situational predictors of real-time prescription drug misuse in daily life.
