COUNSELING BINGE DRINKERS: Scare tactics don’t prevent heavy drinking, counseling does. That’s the conclusion recently reported in The New York Times, based on research by G. Alan Marlatt, UW professor of psychology and director of the Addictive Behaviors Research Center. After four years of observing one group of students originally identified as potentially heavy drinkers, Marlatt discovered that the brief counseling he did with them while they were freshmen ultimately helped bring “statistically significant reductions in binge drinking and its harmful consequences.” He added, “Educational campaigns for alcoholics don’t go over well for most of these people.”

HONG KONG RELATIONS SOUR: The Los Angeles Times reports that fallout from Chinese espionage in the United States is affecting relations, especially financial, with Hong Kong. A recent U.S. congressional report claims that Hong Kong has become a safe port for Chinese spies and smugglers. Hong Kong denies the charges, pointing out that when it gained independence from Great Britain two years ago, it set up a “one country, two systems” agreement giving it political and economic independence from mainland China. Asked to comment on the state of relations, UW Associate Professor of Chinese Studies David Bachman said, “The Hong Kong Policy Act was based on the assumption that we had an interest in preserving ‘one country, two systems.’ If we start messing around this way (by threatening tougher export controls), we create a self-fulfilling prophecy that is moving Hong Kong in a direction we don’t want it to go.”

NO BACHELOR’S? NO PROBLEM: As the high-tech industry continues to grow at a breakneck pace so does the need for programmers. In its Northwest edition, The Wall Street Journal reports that companies increasingly are recruiting programmers straight from high school!M!sometimes before they even receive diplomas. Ed Lazowska, chair of the UW’s Computer Science and Engineering Department, weighs in on behalf of higher education, stating in the article in paraphrase that “attaching ‘financial parameters’ to an argument against college education leaves kids without a ‘foundation for a balanced life.’” The article also mentions that the UW will graduate 40 computer-science undergraduates this year and that it is adding a computer-science program at the Tacoma campus.

DISTANCE-LEARNING LEADERS: The UW’s recent efforts to provide distance learning on the Web were the subject of a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article. The UW is coordinating a consortium of 14 universities to provide online courses to students all over the world, beginning this fall. The program, called R1.edu, will serve as a “portal” for higher-education online and will compete with the growing field of virtual universities popping up across the Internet. The article quotes acting Vice Provost of Educational Outreach David Szatmary, who says, “With the variety of distance-learning opportunities available to the educational consumer, we felt that it was important to have the consumer understand what the major Research I-division universities were doing with distance education.” ¶

Newsmakers is a periodic column reporting on coverage of the University of Washington by the national press and broadcasting services. Most links to Web sites containing the original articles summarized here could not be provided because access is not free or is limited to subscribers only.