Nebraska in the national news: October 2024

Kelli Boling, assistant professor of advertising and public relations, was interviewed for an Oct. 8 Rolling Stone article on renewed interest in the case of Lyle and Erik Menendez, who are serving life sentences for the 1989 murders of their parents and have been the subjects of two recent documentaries. The article was among 30-plus national news stories featuring Husker faculty, staff, students, centers and programs in October.

Boling, an expert on the ethics of true crime, said that in cases that might be reviewed, or given retrials, the transformation of a crime into a storyline, told from multiple angles and in the public, can taint the outcome.

“It has not just mental and emotional repercussions, but it can have real-life courtroom repercussions when cases like this are portrayed so many different times in so many different ways,” she said. “It can hurt people in ways that a lot of producers may not even consider.”

True crime should be victim-centric, Boling said.

“In [the Menendez] case specifically, that particular dichotomy is what draws people into discussion around it,” she said. “Are they victims? Are they perpetrators? Can they be both?”

Additional national news coverage in October included:

• Most rural Nebraskans (69%) see the lack of civil discourse in the political system as at least a somewhat serious problem, according to the 2024 Nebraska Rural Poll. Stories on the poll results appeared in KLKN, the McCook Gazette and Farms.com.
• The University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture and University of Nebraska at Kearney are partnering to launch University Beef, an innovative initiative that combines hands-on learning with high-quality dining. Cattle are raised at NCTA, processed at UNL and served at UNK. Stories on the program appeared in the Aurora News-Register, KFXL, The North Platte Telegraph, Rural Radio Network, High Plains Journal and The Fence Post.
• An interview with Dipti Dev, child, youth and family studies, was cited in an Oct. 7 Bored Panda article on a recent Reddit post about feeding small children. The best way for kids to maintain a balanced diet is through responsive feeding, Dev said. This approach involves paying close attention to hunger cues and how food is presented to children, and setting a good example as an adult.
• Husker Cats, the university’s trap, neuter and release program for cats on campus, was mentioned in an Oct. 8 Chronicle of Higher Education article on a similar program being proposed at Prairie View A&M University in Texas. Kim Hachiya, a retired volunteer with Husker Cats, was quoted in the story. “Our university administration has been very supportive of our work because they wanted to help control the cat population in a humane way,” she said.
• Farm Journal’s Ag Web published an Oct. 8 article on the Klosterman Feedlot Innovation Center at the Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center near Mead. Cattle began arriving at the facility in mid-October. Galen Erickson, animal science, and Rebecca McDermott, a doctoral student in beef cattle nutrition, were interviewed for the article.
• Eric Hunt, a climatologist with Nebraska Extension, was interviewed for an Oct. 8 Brownfield Ag News article on growing conditions in the Midwest. “We have very low soil moisture in the top part of the profile for pretty much everywhere in the central U.S., north of I-70 and certainly west of I-35,” he said. “Again, we are just really, really short of moisture here across the western Corn Belt and central Great Plains.”
• John Hibbing, political science, was interviewed for an Oct. 14 Politico article on Nebraska’s battleground 2nd District. He said the idea of the district as a difference-maker in the presidential election is not as far-fetched as in previous cycles. “I guess I’d have to say this year [the odds are] a little bit less slim,” he said.
• Jody Green, an urban entomologist with Nebraska Extension, was interviewed for an Oct. 14 CNET article on how to get rid of fruit flies in a home. Fruit flies don’t thrive only on rotten fruit or vinegar but can be found in any wet place with a substantial food source, Green said. “It may not be the food you are wanting to eat, but fruit flies are so tiny, it only takes a tiny microhabitat,” such as the residue in a soda can or leftover bits in a takeout container, she said.
• Todd Thornock, accountancy, co-wrote an Oct. 16 piece for The Conversation with West Virginia University’s Kip Holderness and Utah Valley University’s Kari Olsen titled “How to be a boss at giving performance reviews.” The writers recommended keeping emotions out of the process, letting workers customize their experience and choosing the right messenger.
• Kevin Smith, political science, was interviewed for an Oct. 16 National News Desk article on Nebraska’s battleground 2nd Congressional District and the surprisingly tight U.S. Senate race between incumbent Deb Fischer and challenger Dan Osborn. “If the polls are correct, what it suggests is there's quite a few Republicans in the state of Nebraska who are effectively saying, ‘I'm not going to vote for a Democrat, but if you give me a true independent, I'll take a look and maybe give them a shot,’” Smith said.
• Smith and Dona-Gene Barton, also political science, were interviewed for an Oct. 29 Vox article on the Fischer-Osborn race.
• Smith was also quoted in an Oct. 29 Deseret News article on a new report from the American Psychological Association showing that 69% of Americans are experiencing “significant stress” from this year’s presidential election. “There is a considerable and growing amount of evidence that politics is having a negative effect on a broad range of health outcomes,” Smith told the APA.
• Husker researchers Seunghee Kim, civil and environmental engineering; Karrie Weber, biological sciences and Earth and atmospheric sciences; and Hyun-Seob Song, biological systems engineering and food science and technology, are studying the Midcontinent Rift — which runs from beneath Lake Superior through parts of Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas — to determine how best to access a potential store of natural hydrogen that could yield vast amounts of clean energy. Interesting Engineering ran an Oct. 17 article on the research.
• The Fence Post ran an Oct. 18 article previewing the Oct. 29 CME Group Foundation Symposium, hosted by the Clayton Yeutter Institute of International Trade and Finance. The event took place at Nebraska Innovation Campus and featured the theme “Opportunities for Leadership in the Global Trading System.”
• Brandon Johnson, law, was interviewed for an Oct. 20 Associated Press article on what happens if competing ballot measures pass. If a Nebraska measure creating a right to abortion until fetal viability gets the most votes, it could be construed as fully conflicting with a restrictive measure and thus prevail in its entirety, he said. But if the restrictive measure gets the most votes, a court could determine it conflicts with the abortion-rights measure only in the second and third trimesters, he said.
• Elizabeth Theiss-Morse, political science, was quoted in an Oct. 21 Reuters article on the U.S. Senate race in Nebraska between Deb Fischer and Dan Osborn. “This Senate race is closer than anybody expected,” Theiss-Morse said. But in a deeply conservative state, “Republicans are likely to stay with their party when push comes to shove,” she said.
• Sergio Wals, political science and ethnic studies, was interviewed for an Oct. 23 Telemundo Nebraska story on efforts to increase the Latino vote in Nebraska.
• Dawn O. Braithwaite, Willa Cather Professor of Communications Studies Emerita, co-wrote with Arizona State University’s Clark Olson an Oct. 26 column for Psychology Today titled “How to be a Good Neighbor in Contentious Times.” They stressed that civility is crucial for a democratic society, that most people want the same things in life but disagree on how to attain them and that being understood is more important than being right.
• Dona-Gene Barton, political science, was interviewed for an Oct. 28 Midwest Newsroom story on Midwest voters supporting progressive measures while repeatedly electing conservative lawmakers who explicitly reject them. Unlike voting for a candidate whose positions are clearly articulated, ballot language for proposed legislation often does not include partisan cues, she said, and that difference can help produce unexpected results. The story aired on Nebraska Public Media, Iowa Public Radio and KCUR.
• Jack Beard, law, director of the Space, Cyber and National Security Law program, was interviewed for an Oct. 28 Forbes article on Planet Labs founders Robbie Schingler and Will Marshall successfully lobbying for a universal halt to anti-satellite missile tests. Beard said he was not aware of satellite images, such as those taken by Planet, being used in war crime trials, but he thinks that is likely to change given the quality of the images and what they show.
• The U.S. Drought Monitor — produced jointly by the university’s National Drought Mitigation Center, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture — was cited in an Oct. 29 New York Times article on New York City experiencing one of its driest falls on record. The Oct. 24 monitor showed expanded drought in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware, with New York City listed as “abnormally dry."

Faculty, administration, student and staff appearances in the national media are logged at http://newsroom.unl.edu/inthenews. If you have additions to the list, contact Sean Hagewood at shagewood2@unl.edu or 402-472-8514. If you have suggestions for national news stories, contact Leslie Reed at lreed5@unl.edu or 402-472-2059.