UB in the News

The successful effort by UB professors of architecture and planning Despina Stratigakos and Kelly Hayes McAlonie to get Mattel to create an architect Barbie to explore issues of gender and race within the profession, is described in a story on MSNBC.com; the toy company will officially introduce the new Barbie at the American Institute of Architects convention in New Orleans May 12.

An op-ed on the Huffington Post about Gov. Andrew Cuomo's summit later this month to consider the UB 2020 proposal to give the university more autonomy with respect to tuition policies and control over its physical assets supports the measure, not only for UB but for all public higher education institutions in New York State.

An article in the Hartford Courant about police work and problem drinking interviews John Violanti, research associate professor of social and preventive medicine. "It's long been recognized that alcohol problems in police work are prevalent," he said. "Generally, it's social: it's done only with other police officers and there's no repercussions. But then you get the guy who can't control it anymore, and that's when the trouble starts."

A letter to the editor in the Buffalo News praises plans to move the medical school to downtown Buffalo. Marc S. Halfon, associate professor of biochemistry, writes: "Relocating the Medical School downtown will allow all of our medical students, graduate and undergraduate, to partake of these advantages and will bring together our fragmented biomedical community into a central, modern and competitive research, training and clinical care environment."

An editorial in the Buffalo News looks at what UB has accomplished due to good leadership and calls a plan to move the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences "a giant step forward for the university and the community." The editorial praises UB President Satish Tripathi, and notes, "We look forward to other announcements of import from Tripathi. If they are as significant as moving the medical school, the new UB president will enjoy strong community support."

A letter to the editor in the Albany Times Union says NYSUNY 2020 is piggy backing off of UB's seven years of planning with UB 2020.

An article in The New York Times looks at the positive effect the UB 2020 plan -- and the move of the UB medical school downtown -- could play in the transformation of Buffalo, and the enthusiastic support it has received among local business leaders, politicians and community members, who are hopeful for the economic impact it would provide.

Biologist Victor Albert was interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered about his work analyzing the genome of the plant amborella. "It basically just looks like a small tree or shrub with fairly nondescript leaves and relatively nondescript flowers," he said, but the plant is important because it's one of the first flowering plants that evolved on Earth and while it is the sibling of all flowering plants, it has no direct descendents.

An article in the Las Vegas Sun reports that while for decades researchers have said that alcoholism is more common in the U.S. population than compulsive gambling, a study released last month by the Research Institute on Addictions found that gambling problems are more common than alcohol dependence. The article quotes John Welte, senior research scientist.

An article in Consumer Reports looks at research conducted by a team of UB scientists who found that consuming vitamin D from foods or supplements might reduce the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration in women younger than 75. UPI, Food Consumer and Medscape News also distributed articles on the research.