Several new research studies were among the topics that generated more than 50 national news article mentioning the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and its faculty in June. They included a study of how to parent highly talented children, models of previously unrecognized brain trauma caused by roadside bomb explosions and an overview of research examining the connections between over eating and lack of sleep.
Highlights of June’s coverage:
Research shedding new light on how roadside bomb explosions injure the brain, led by Linxia Gu, mechanical and materials engineering, was featured by several online news sources, such as Health Canal, News Medical, and ECN magazine.
A new study examining parental contributions to the success of talented offspring, led by Kenneth Kiewra, educational psychology, and three former grauduate students, was covered June 8 by Phys.org, June 22 by Quartz (a worldwide digital news outlet owned by the publishers of The Atlantic and National Journal), and June 28 by Nooga.com (in Chattanooga, Tenn.)
A new paper in the Journal of Health Psychology by Alyssa Lundahl and Timothy D. Nelson, psychology, explored the connection between sleep disruption and obesity. It was covered by several online outlets, such as Newsmax, Big News Network, Yahoo! Health and South China Morning Post.
Inc.com reported June 5 that Gallup and The Clifton Foundation are giving $30 million to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to build a “Strengths Lab” at the College of Business Administration. The gift honored former Gallup chairman Don Clifton, a former UNL faculty member who pioneered the concept of evaluating workers’ strengths to improve their job performance. The gift also was covered by The Chronicle of Philanthropy on June 8.
OpenDemocracy, an independent website operated by a nonprofit organization in the United Kingdom, quoted Bedross der Matossian, history, in a June 24 article examining the parallels between the Arab spring of 2011 and the Young Turk revolution, the coup d’etat that overturned the Ottoman empire in 1908. Der Matossian recently authored “Shattered Dreams of Revolution: From Liberty to Violence in the Late Ottoman Empire.”
The A.V. Club, an entertainment site published by The Onion, quoted Wheeler Winston Dixon, film studies, in a June 20 story on the history of the film trailer.
The Washington Times was among outlets that carried the Associated Press’s June 26 report that the National Drought Mitigation Center had been awarded a $2.4 million federal grant to expand its services with a Drought Risk Management Research Center. The center’s Michael Hays and Mark Svoboda were quoted in the story.
The U.S. Drought Monitor, a partnership that includes the National Drought Mitigation Center, was cited in a June 17 24/7 Wall St. story about U.S. cities facing water shortages. The story was carried by USA TODAY, among others. The National Drought Mitigation Center also was cited in a June 26 Capital Press story about drought spreading into western Washington State.
Helen Fagan, agricultural leadership, education & communication, was cited in the June 9 Washington Post Acts of Faith blog in a story about the cultural divides revealed by a pool party gone wrong in McKinney, Texas.
The Associated Press reported June 15 on an $11.4 million project to add new exhibit space to the University of Nebraska State Museum of Natural History. Priscilla Grew, museum director, said the project will transform Morrill Hall into a “completely unified museum building.”
The western Ireland village of Oughterard hosted a classical music concert by Finghin Collins, thanks to an unusual bequest by former UNL chemical engineering professor Richard Gilbert, the Irish Times reported June 5. Gilbert, who died in November, lived in Oughterard after his retirement from UNL in 1996.
A study by Dane Hautala and Les Whitbeck, sociology, investigating youth gang involvement on American Indian reservations and Canadian First Nations reserves was covered by Indian Country Today Media Network on June 15.
C-Span3’s American History TV covered Lincoln in June , with frequent references to the UNL, including Alan Osborn, curator of anthropology, on the “First Peoples of the Plains” exhibit at the University of Nebraska State Museum at Morrill Hall and book talks by Margaret Jacobs, history, on “A Generation Removed,” Andrew Jewell, libraries, on “The Selected Letters of Willa Cather,” and Joe Starita, journalism, on “I am a Man.”
Ari Kohen, political science, cited Nebraskans’ “independent-mindedness” in a June 1 Daily Beast article that investigated why the legislature in a conservative state decided to repeal the death penalty and raise gasoline taxes.
The social justice media web site TakePart reported June 17 on a project to teach cattle production to students at an urban high school on the far South Side of Chicago. The project results from a collaboration between the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences and the Nebraska Leadership Education/Action Development, a UNL-led program to train young agriculturalists.
Forbes cited research by Barney McCoy, journalism, in a June 25 piece about digital distractions in the college classroom. McCoy is conducting a follow-up to his 2013 survey that found students frequently check texts, email and social media during class.
High Plains Journal quoted Harshavardhan Thippareddi, food science and technology, in a June 15 report about a new grant to improve food safety in low-moisture foods like nuts, spices and peanut butter.
The Street quoted Joseph Weber, journalism, in a June 9 story about whether former NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams could resuscitate his career and return to the anchor’s chair. Weber was pessimistic about Williams’ prospects, saying the former anchor had become a “punch line” after revelations that he had embellished stories about his reporting in Iraq. “That’s fatal for a journalist,” Weber said.
A June 22 Reuters story quoted Don Wilhite, School of Natural Resources, on the costs of drought to agriculture. The story was carried by Business Insider, among other publications.
Cynthia Willis-Esqueda, psychology, was mentioned in the June 30 Orange County Register in a story about her research partner Russ Espinoza and their work studying racism among jurors in death penalty case.
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.
