UNL in the national news: June 2014

· 6 min read

UNL in the national news: June 2014

National media outlets featured and cited UNL sources on a number of occasions in June.

The month concluded with a feature in The Chronicle of Higher Education about Joseph Francisco, who became the new dean of UNL’s College of Arts & Sciences July 1. Francisco is a nationally respected environmental chemist and former president of the American Chemical Society. He moves to UNL from Purdue University, where he served as associate dean for research and graduate education from 2010 to 2013. http://go.unl.edu/w0fg

David Aiken, natural resources, was quoted in several early June stories about Cargill’s decision to phase out hog gestation crates in its operations. http://go.unl.edu/utpb | http://go.unl.edu/a8bp

Kenneth Bloom, physics and astronomy, was one of the scientists at the CERN laboratory in Switzerland when U.S. Ambassador Suzi LeVine came to visit. She discussed her tour of the high-tech facility in “The LeVine Line,” a U.S. Embassy blog. http://go.unl.edu/owa2

Aliza Brugger, a film studies student who had her directorial debut at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, was featured in a June 26 LiveB1G article on BTN. http://go.unl.edu/f7hr

CNBC.com quoted Dennis Burson, animal science, in a June 24 article about rising beef prices. http://go.unl.edu/ajob

In a June 13 book review published by Salon.com, Joy Castro, English, discussed the “disgraceful racial politics” in “The Goldfinch,” the Pulitzer-winning bestseller by Donna Tartt. Despite being set in New York City, Castro notes that all characters of importance in the novel are white. Its working-class characters of color read like wishful caricatures, she wrote. http://go.unl.edu/zwn4

Wheeler Winston Dixon, film studies, discussed the dearth of summer movies aimed at girls and young women in a June 8 USA TODAY piece carried by numerous outlets nationwide. http://go.unl.edu/eh3m | http://go.unl.edu/ks3z | http://go.unl.edu/8xgz

Business Insider pointed to UNL’s Drone Journalism Laboratory in a June 12 report on industries most likely to be transformed by the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly called drones. http://go.unl.edu/yczu

Rick Edwards, Center for Great Plains Studies, was quoted in a June 26 Associated Press story about the digitization of historic homesteading files in Nebraska. The completion of a decade-long effort, the project makes 77,000 files with 1.6 million digital images available to the public in a searchable data base. http://go.unl.edu/xbfw

UNL research into the shrinking tundra was cited by the Toronto Globe and Mail in a June 22 article about Canadian scientists’ inventory of plants in the far north.
The study mentioned was led by Song Feng, natural resources, and published in 2011. http://go.unl.edu/695h

The Kansas City Star quoted Brian Fuchs, National Drought Mitigation Center, in a June 1 piece about water conservation efforts in Russell, Kan. http://go.unl.edu/hjmg

James Garza, history, was quoted about the legacy of Santa Anna in a story about a tiff between two museums over the Mexican general’s wooden leg. The piece, originally published in the Chicago Tribune, was picked up by several other outlets across the country, including June 1 in the Los Angeles Times and June 3 in Stars and Stripes. http://go.unl.edu/5vaw | http://go.unl.edu/iq6r

“The Vault,” Slate.com’s history blog, featured the UNL library’s digital collection of government comics in a June 2 article. The piece featured a 1940s comic that explained a malaria prevention tactic that involved spraying the walls of people’s homes with DDT insecticide. http://go.unl.edu/0yyr

The latest research by John Hibbing and Kevin Smith, political science, which found a link between the stress hormone cortisol and people’s voting behavior was featured in several outlets in late June. The study, led by psychologist Jeffrey French at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, found that people with high levels of cortisol were less likely to vote. http://go.unl.edu/kgbp | http://go.unl.edu/gcxv

The New York Times’ “Bits” published a June 11 report about Hudl, a sports video company founded by three UNL students in 2006. http://go.unl.edu/hqvh

The International Quilt Study Center was mentioned in a June 9 Virginian-Pilot article about quilting’s broad appeal – and the myth that it was born of necessity, with hardy pioneers stitching together scraps to make blankets for their families. http://go.unl.edu/x9ms

The Political Studies Association published a blog by Ari Kohen, political science, explaining how he has done away with student essays in his ancient political theory course, replacing them with Tumblr accounts and required blog posts. http://go.unl.edu/gduj

Arts Across Nebraska, a statewide performing arts program offered by the Lied Center for Performing Arts, was featured by BTN’s LiveB1G on June 21. http://go.unl.edu/a9ha

The National Catholic Reporter, in a June 11, piece told of the late James McShane, a long-time UNL English professor, who “did not waver” in his fight against excommunication for his involvement with a Catholic reform group. http://go.unl.edu/mfmt

A June 6 U.S. News & World Report article quoted Craig Munier, scholarships and financial aid, on how college savings plans, also known as 529 plans, are factored into need-based financial aid packages. The article was picked up by other financial news sources. http://go.unl.edu/72va | http://go.unl.edu/jmh6

Phys.Org reported on research from Philip Schwadel, sociology, that found younger generations are closing the social class gap between evangelical Protestants and mainline denominations – and a growing number of younger generation working-class people are not affiliated with religion. http://go.unl.edu/2wn3

A three-day collaboration between STREB dance company and UNL dance, architecture and computer science students was featured on BTN’s LiveB1G, June 3. http://go.unl.edu/zv3y

Scott Stoltenberg, psychology, was cited in a June 3 RealSimple.com article about overcoming shyness. Stoltenberg authored a recent study about the genetic links to social anxiety. http://go.unl.edu/hk7c

DailyFinance.com posted a list June 7 of everyday products with high mark-up prices, developed by Student Money Management Center at UNL. http://go.unl.edu/s8fk

Steve L. Taylor, co-director of the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program, discussed hidden food allergies in a widely carried June 6 NBC News story. http://go.unl.edu/imog | http://go.unl.edu/juuj

TMCnet.com carried the monthly Nebraska business survey produced by Eric Thompson, Bureau of Business Research. http://go.unl.edu/bq4u

Joseph Weber, journalism, described his work with Chinese journalism students in a June 3 Washington Post blog , “Post Everything.” The article, timed to the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, described a survey that found the Chinese students to be critical of continuing government censorship of the Chinese media. http://go.unl.edu/x76t

This is a monthly column featuring UNL faculty, administrators and staff in the national news. National media often work with University Communications to identify and connect with UNL sources for the purpose of including the university’s research, expertise and programming in published or broadcasted work. 







Faculty, administration, student and staff appearances in the national media are logged at http://newsroom.unl.edu/inthenews/





. If you have additions to this list or suggestions for national news stories, contact Leslie Reed at lreed5@unl.edu or 402-472-2059.

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