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The rules of Attraction
Eight thousand years ago, our preferences in a mate and prospects for love were shaped by three facts of life: 1) you eat what you hunt and gather, 2) there is no birth control, bottle feeding, or day care, and 3) if you’re alone, you’ll die.
Life has changed a bit since then, but psychology professor Lisa Bohon says that human rules of attraction have stood the test of time.
“Our mate preferences and tendency to fall in love evolved from the needs of our prehistoric ancestors,” Bohon says. “The result is that survivors contribute these preferences and tendencies genetically to the next and succeeding generations.”
In spite of our modern sensibilities, physical characteristics are still what catch a potential mate’s eye, and some desired features are attractive for both males and females, she says. “A healthy appearance is important because it boosts the chances of fertility and longevity,” Bohon says. Physical features that indicate health are straight, white teeth and healthy gums, healthy skin, and facial symmetry.
So what is attractive in men? Strength indicators such as height, a v-shaped torso and a lean, muscular physique are appealing because women seek protection for themselves and their offspring.
Additionally, signs of sexual maturity in men are important as they are indicators the man can produce children. “Lustrous brows and a prominent jaw are indicators that the flood of testosterone has hit,” Bohon says.
Sexual maturity in women is also important, Bohon notes. “Children and post-menopausal women will not produce any offspring. The surge of estrogen that hits at puberty gives women an hour-glass figure, shiny hair because of increased oil production, fuller lips, a thin jaw line and high cheekbones.
“I find it especially interesting that these features are crossculturally attractive to people,” Bohon says.
The evolution holds true for people who are homosexual. “There are few differences in mate preference based on sexual preference,” says Bohon. “Gay women and men like the same things as their straight counterparts.”
It’s not all about the face and body, though. Personality characteristics make a difference, too, in the game of love. Kindness, understanding and intelligence weigh in. “Mutual attraction is also important,” Bohon says, “because lust and commitment keep a couple together for at least four years and help to insure that any offspring have the best chance of survival. And kindness can be an indicator of being a committed and loving partner and a nurturing parent.”
There are exceptions to the rule. “At the individual level, anything is possible,” Bohon says. “These are general trends across cultures. And many people who don’t want children still follow these evolved mate preferences. They still want someone who is smart, healthy and kind.” —Kim Nava
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Role-playing has long been a valued tool for counselors in the United States. Counselor education professor Louis Downs discovered it can also be successful with counseling students and faculty halfway across the world.
Downs spent six weeks at Malaysia’s Kolej New Era university as a Fulbright senior specialist last summer, working with the counseling faculty on their curriculum, and teaching skills acquisition and maintenance.
Counselor education at the Kolej New Era relied heavily on theory but was lacking when it came practical application, Downs says. “The faculty get their doctorates in counseling, but it is totally research-based,” he says. “They learn no clinical skills themselves and learn nothing about teaching skills.”
Downs taught a workshop on supervision in a clinic, as well as strategies for teaching counseling students.
“I introduced a single reflective listening skill and then had the counseling students practice the skills with each other,” he says. “The faculty then practiced corrective feedback with individual students to improve their counseling technique.”
In addition, Downs suggested curriculum improvements.
Kolej New Era had applied for university status and needed a curriculum that would reflect university standards.
One of the most remarkable changes, Downs says, was the inclusion of cultural sensitivity. “The faculty felt the importance of understanding the varied cultures in their area, which consisted of Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures, was lacking,” Downs says. “Rather than interview someone, students had arranged to actually stay in the home of a Hindu or Muslim or Animist or some other culture alien to their own for a weekend.”
The faculty also quit using American multicultural books, which are specific to the American cross-cultural experience.
“There is also a distinct hierarchy by ethnicity in the country that is even enforced by law,” he says. “Faculty developed a book that allows the students to understand the foundations of the cultural isolation and break through that paradigm.”
In spite of the relatively short time on the campus, Downs’ contributions have made a lasting impression. Not only were the curriculum and instruction improved, but tapes of Downs during his instruction and role-playing exercises are available in the Kolej New Era library for faculty use. —Kim Nava
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Fire up the green energy Build a better mouse trap, and people will beat a path to your door. Build a better burner, and people will probably take very little notice.
But that doesn’t deter Sac State mechanical engineering professor Tim Marbach. He and his team of graduate students are trying to build a burner that can convert biomass into a highly efficient, clean-burning energy source.
Biomass is pretty much “anything that was alive and created through the process of photosynthesis, so it’s cheap and plentiful,” according to Marbach. The energy stored in biomass can be released naturally such as through decay, by the actions of enzymes such as in the production of ethanol, or by combustion. For power plants, combustion is much more rapid and desirable, but energy efficiency is an issue.
“The problem is that when you gasify (burn) biomass, its heat content is a lot lower than that of fossil fuels,” Marbach says. “So it’s not as efficient as fossil fuels and the emissions are higher.”
To improve the performance of biomass as a fuel source, Marbach’s team is experimenting with heat recirculation.
A porous sleeve of ceramic or metal foam surrounds their burner to limit heat loss. The higher heat increases efficiency and lowers emissions.
But, even if the tests are successful, Marbach knows that cost will probably limit the application of the technology at least in the near future.
“People aren’t going to spend $500 million to build a plant they aren’t sure will work and hasn’t been proven. But, if we can make a small advancement and show that the technology is feasible, hopefully research will continue from there.”
—Michael A. Ward
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