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UNL in the national news: March 2014
National media outlets featured and cited UNL sources on a number of occasions throughout the month of March.
The Buffett Early Childhood Institute, led by Samuel Meisels, was highlighted in a March 5 Huffington Post blog article about Nebraska’s efforts to improve early childhood education.
Reporters covering the 2014 Academy Awards sought out Wheeler Winston Dixon, film studies, for his take on Oscar movie trends. The Christian Science Monitor interviewed Dixon for a March 2 article about the dark themes – such as piracy, slavery and addiction – featured in this year’s nominees; while the Arizona Republic talked to him about why so many of the films were based on true stories. Dixon was back in The Christian Science Monitor on March 3, with a discussion of why “Gravity” and “12 Years a Slave” won big. That story was published in several other outlets, including Yahoo News. On March 18, Dixon was interviewed by the LA Times about the potential comeback of the disgraced movie producer who made some of action hero Steven Seagal’s best-known films.
Aaron Duncan, communication studies, was interviewed by The Christian Science Monitor in a March 7 article about a California businessman who alleges a Las Vegas casino deliberately got him drunk, leading him to lose $500,000 gambling. Duncan, who has studied gambling’s influence on pop culture, also appeared March 20 on a WLIR (Kenosha, Wis.) radio program to discuss the same case.
A speech on human rights by David Forsythe, political science, was covered by The Signal, the student newspaper at the College of New Jersey.
In March 13 hearing covered by NBC News, ABC News and others, Tim Gay, physics, and Dennis Molfese, director of the Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior, testified before Congress about ways to prevent brain injuries in sports.
Mother Jones published a March 25 article detailing research by Mitchel Herian, Nebraska Public Policy Center, that found a correlation between liberal government and citizens’ health. The study, which also found a connection between strong communities and good health, was covered March 21 in the Digital Journal and The Blaze; March 25 on Policy Mic; March 26 in the Daniel Island News; and March 27 in the Chicago Sun-Times.
John Hibbing and Kevin Smith, political science, and their recent book, “Predisposed: Liberals, Conservatives and the Biology of Political Differences,” were featured in an article on political books in the spring issue of Washington Monthly. Hibbing also was quoted March 16 in a Washington Times article about the Nebraska race for U.S. Senate.
Justin “Gus” Hurwitz, law, was among the experts who discussed the Universal Service Fund, net neutrality and other telecommunications issues on a panel covered by C-Span2 on March 18.
John Janovy, biological sciences professor emeritus, was quoted by The Christian Science Monitor in an article about Fox’s reboot of the classic science program “Cosmos.” So far, he said in the March 10 piece, he finds the show hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson “a little bit shallow.”
Ari Kohen, political science, discussed the moral implications of the sexual abuse allegations Dylan Farrow made against filmmaker Woody Allen in a column published March 2 by the Ann Arbor Chronicle.
Ben Kreimer, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate who works with UNL’s drone laboratory, was quoted March 8 in Kenya’s The Star after he helped identify a drone that had crashed on a Naivasha farm.
The University of Nebraska College of Law was touted March 11 in the Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog for its success during hard times for U.S. law schools. In just two years, the college has moved up 35 spots in the U.S. News & World Report’s rankings, based in part upon its graduates’ success in landing jobs.
Research by Lance Meinke, entomology, into corn rootworms’ growing resistance to genetically modified corn was discussed in a March 18 Newsweek article and in a March 19 Fox News article.
Dance Magazine reported March 27 that University of Nebraska-Lincoln students from dance, theater, architecture and computer science and engineering would work with the STREB Extreme Action dance troupe during a three-day residency before Streb’s performance at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.
UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman was interviewed for a March 29 article in The Chronicle of Higher Education about the potential fall-out of a labor decision in favor of Northwestern University football players who want to unionize.
Mark Svoboda, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center was quoted in March 3 stories about the lingering effects of the historic 2011 Texas drought. The drought center also was cited in a widely carried March 3 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article about how drought in the Plains sent supermarket beef prices upward, as well as articles about the ongoing drought in California.
Svoboda also was interviewed by ABC News March 25 about California’s effort to truck salmon to their spawning beds because the Sacramento River lacks enough water.
Will Thomas, history chair, offered tips for preserving digital history projects in a March 10 piece posted on History News Network.
James Van Etten, plant pathology, spoke to National Geographic for a March 3 article about an ancient virus newly discovered buried in the Siberian permafrost. Van Etten, a international authority on viruses, edited the research article written by French researchers who discovered the virus.
Matt Waite, founder of UNL’s Drone Journalism Laboratory, was interviewed March 24 by San Diego NPR station KPBS about the future of drone journalism.
Broadwayworld.com reported March 26 that violinist Hyeyung Julie Yoon, a member of the Chiara String Quartet and artist in residence at UNL, would perform the premiere of Pange Lingua Sonata, a piece written for her in 2012 by composer Robert Sirota.
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