Personal Mention

"Shipbreakers," a documentary that takes a hard look at “where ships go to die” has won an Award of Merit for Best Documentary Feature from The Accolade Global Film Competition. The film, written, directed and produced by the late CMU Professor Paul Goodman, Entertainment Technology Center faculty member Ralph Vituccio and former CMU staffer Tom Clancy, highlights environmental issues and human rights abuses with powerful visuals and location. The Accolade recognizes film, television, videography and new media professionals who demonstrate exceptional achievement in craft and creativity, and those who produce standout entertainment or contribute to profound social change. This is the latest award for “Shipbreakers,” which won the Best Film Editing Award at the 2016 Global Film Festival of Boston last April. Earlier this year, Shipbreakers won the Best Feature Award in the Documentary Category at The World International Film Festival in San Francisco. In addition to being screened in several film festivals in the U.S. and abroad, the documentary has appeared on several PBS stations, including WQED in Pittsburgh. Learn more about Shipbreakers. 

Marlene Behrmann, the Cowan University Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, will receive the Ladies Hospital Aid Society (LHAS) Excellence in Education Award at its annual Brain Gain Gala today (Sept. 8) at the Carnegie Museums in Oakland. Behrmann, one of the foremost experts in the cognitive neuroscience of visual perception, will wear the voice-activated Brain Dress that she designed and wore to her recent induction into the National Academy of Sciences.

In a NEJM Catalyst article, CMU behavioral economists George Loewenstein (right) and Saurabh Bhargava (far right) argue that the best way to address the problems caused by health plan complexity is to simplify and standardize the plans. Loewenstein and Bhargava believe that if all insurance firms were required to offer the same set of simple products, it could help consumers make better decisions and also mitigate the likelihood that firms act to exploit such consumers. Bhargava is an assistant professor of economics and social and decision sciences. Loewenstein is the Herbert A. Simon University Professor of Economics and Psychology. Read the full paper, titled "The Simple Case Against Health Insurance Complexity."