From Black Holes to Honeybee Acupuncture to OxyContin Addictions

C.W. Post Honors Program Conference to
Feature 30 Seminars on Research Activities

October 25, 2005 – Brookville, NY – New York Times reporter Barry Meier, author of a new book about the epidemic of OxyContin addiction, will be the keynote speaker at the annual Honors Program Conference, a day-long series of stimulating and informative lectures at the C.W. Post Campus of

Long Island University on Friday, Nov. 4 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Other speakers include Amber Rose, who will deliver a lecture titled, “Living Acupuncture: Where the Needle is Still Alive! (Amazing Anecdotal Evidence of the Healing Power of Honeybees),” and C.W. Post Associate Professor of Physics Steve Liebling, who will lecture on “Colliding Black Holes on the Computer.”

The 2005 Honors Conference, “RESEARCH: Who Does It? How Do You Do It?” includes 34 seminars at various locations on the C.W. Post Campus. All of the seminars are free and open to the public.  The seminars cover a broad range of research disciplines and subjects, from accounting to marine mammals, science to philosophy, from history and sociology to mathematics and the fine arts.

Meier’s book, “Painkiller: A Wonder Drug’s Trail of Addiction and Death,” examines the troubling issues raised by the powerful prescription painkiller OxyContin, which touched off what many saw as an epidemic of addiction and crime, especially in Appalachia, where the drug became known as "hillbilly heroin."

Meier combines a well-researched account of the medical controversy surrounding OxyContin with affecting reportage on one of its victims, a high school cheerleader whose life went into a tailspin once she encountered the drug.

Meier will deliver his keynote address at 12 noon in Hillwood Commons Cinema.

Other seminar subjects include:

  • Australia and New Zealand: Far Out, Far Off and A Bit Too Near” with Margaret Boorstein, Ph.D., chair of the Earth and Environmental Science Department at C.W. Post.
  • Astrology to Zoology for Early Americans,” a look at the role of almanacs in American life, with Sara Gronim, Ph.D., assistant professor of history at C.W. Post.
  • “Meeting the Needs of HIV/AIDS: How Do We Determine Whether Programs Really Work?” with Linda Wenze, Ph.D., associate professor of health care and public administration at C.W. Post.
  • Returning for a second consecutive year is Lynn Jericho, a counselor, speaker and author of “Ground Zero and the Human Soul.” Jericho will speak on “From Belief to Knowledge: The Radical Science of Spiritual Research.”

Descriptions, times and locations of all 34 lectures can be found at the Honors Program and Merit Fellowship Web site at www.liu.edu/honors.

For more information, contact the Honors Program and Merit Fellowship at 516-299-2840.
 
Long Island University C.W. Post Campus