University of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty, staff, students and alumni featured in at least 50 national news stories during February 2017. Topics ranged from the desolation found in the reservation border town of Whiteclay; the biology of politics; “good” bacteria found in the gut; and a music professor’s relationship with composer Philip Glass.
One highlight was an Esquire magazine shout-out to University of Nebraska-Lincoln journalism students who covered the woes at Whiteclay, where the main economic activity is selling alcohol to residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation across the state line in South Dakota. In a Feb. 28 article Esquire writer Charles P. Pierce Included large excerpts from the students’ Wounds of Whiteclay report and urged it be to read. He singled out a story by student Vanessa Daves on Tom Brewer, a Lakota man who in November 2016 became the first Native elected to the Nebraska Legislature. Other students involved in the project included reporters Alyssa Mae, Chris Bowling, Lauren Brown-Hulme, Marcella Mercer and Natasha Rausch; photographers Amber Baesler, Calla Kessler, Jake Crandall and James Wooldridge, and website developer Matt Hanson. Journalism faculty and staff involved were Joe Starita, Bill Frakes, Robert Holmes and Rebekka Schlichting.
Paul Barnes, music, was interviewed for the February issue of the BBC Music Magazine about his longstanding collaboration with Philip Glass. The issue, which marked the pioneering composer’s 80th birthday, is available for purchase.
John Hibbing, political science, appeared Feb. 6 on National Geographic’s StarTalk, hosted by astrophysicist Neal deGrasse Tyson. Hibbing described how he and his colleagues investigate biological influences on political belief.
The January/February issue of Dr. Oz magazine and the Feb. 13 Web MD newsletter interviewed Robert Hutkins, food science, about how a person’s microbiome – the mix of bacteria found in the body – influences health in both beneficial and harmful ways.
More national coverage for Nebraska in February:
Sue Burzynski Bullard, journalism, was quoted in a Feb. 15 Associated Press story about President Trump’s poor spelling. “Hey Mr. President: It’s time to make spellcheck great again” appeared in at least 30 news outlets around the country.
Frans von der Dunk, law, was quoted in a Feb. 24 FiveThirtyEight piece on why Mars will need lawyers if people settle there.
An Associated Press interview of Alice Henneman, extension, on reducing food waste appeared Feb. 7 through Feb. 19 in at least 45 outlets across the country.
A formula that might be used to detect when athletes “sandbag” on a concussion test was featured Feb. 22 on Science Daily. Developed by Kathryn Higgins, psychology, the formula is intended to detect when athletes underperform on baseline tests, with the aim of circumventing concussion protocols that could delay their return to competition in the event of injury.
Journalism alumna Jenna Johnson, now a reporter for the Washington Post, was among newsmen and women mentioned by syndicated columnist Dana Milbank of the Washington Post in a Feb. 21 item that appeared in news outlets nationwide. Milbank objected to President Trump’s characterization of the media as “enemies of the American people.”
The formation of the Nebraska Early Childhood Workforce Commission, a public-private collaboration spearheaded by the Buffett Early Childhood Institute, made the news in a number of outlets in the region. U.S. News & World Report and Education Week included the Associated Press version, which quoted Marjorie Kostelnik, education and human sciences dean, and Samuel Meisels, Buffett Institute director. The Omaha World-Herald version appeared in the St. Joseph News-Press and KPVI TV in Pocatello, Idaho, among others.
WBUR’s Here & Now quoted Brad Lubben, agricultural economics, in a Feb. 6 report on the not-so-rosy outlook for the Midwest farm economy. The story originated with Harvest Public Media.
The National Drought Mitigation Center was cited in several stories about the apparent end of California’s five year-drought. They included a Feb. 23 report from the San Jose Mercury News that also was carried by the Los Angeles Daily News, the Pasadena Star-News, the San Bernardino Sun and other news outlets; and a Feb. 23 report from NBC News that California is now on track for its wettest year ever. The center also was cited in a Feb. 8 CNBC report on California regulators considering whether to continue emergency drought regulations; a Feb. 16 Anniston Star article on drought making Alabama pines susceptible to pests; and a Feb. 21 story from WTOP in Washington, D.C., about increasing numbers of brush fires as drought conditions emerged in the District of Columbia.
Bugeater Foods, a startup company based at Nebraska Innovation Campus that uses cricket meal as a key ingredient in pasta and rice products, received coast-to-coast coverage Feb. 16 through Feb. 18 via an Omaha World-Herald story that was shared through the Associated Press. The story quoted adviser Julianne Kopf, food science and technology. BTN’s LiveBig featured the effort on Feb. 21.
The Salt, National Public Radio’s food blog, featured Sally Mackenzie, agronomy and horticulture, on Feb. 8 when it picked up a Harvest Public Media-produced story about a genetically modified apple soon to hit grocery stores.
The Native news aggregator Pechanga.Net picked up a story about “A Warrior of the People,” the biography of Susan LaFlesche Picotte, America’s first Native doctor, written by Joe Starita, journalism. In recent months, the book also has been featured by the New York Post, the Chicago Tribune, and History.com, among others.
Mother Jones mentioned national bullying expert Susan Swearer, educational psychology, in a Feb. 7 article about whether Melania Trump’s anti-cyberbullying campaign would move forward.
Faculty, administration, student and staff appearances in the national media are logged here. If you have additions to this list or suggestions for national news stories, contact Leslie Reed, the university’s national news editor, at lreed5@unl.edu or 402-472-2059.
