UB in the News

Michael Poulin, assistant professor of psychology, is quoted in an article in the Los Angeles Times about the psychological impact of the Sept. 11 attacks and people's subsequent efforts to feel normal again. As a nation, he said, we endeavored to put our fear and grief in the back of our minds so we could return to our usual, sometimes trivial, business.

An article in The New York Times about the use of technology in the classroom and the affect is could have on student test scores quotes Randy Yerrick, associate dean of educational technology in the Graduate School of Education. Research does not establish a clear link between computer-inspired engagement and learning, he said.

UB President Satish K. Tripathi is quoted in an article in the Albany Business Review about plans by the four SUNY research centers to build $825 million worth of health-related construction projects, creating 3,500 high-paying faculty and staff positions. The article notes UB's proposal calls for a $375 million medical school relocation project through a partnership with Kaleida Health.

Christina Boyd, assistant professor of political science, is quoted in an Associated Press article about U.S. officials destroying millions of paper federal court records to save storage costs, a move that is being criticized by some historians, private detectives and others who rely on the files.

Sarbajit Banerjee, assistant professor of chemistry, was interviewed on Northeast Public Radio's Academic Minute about his research on vanadium oxide. Vanadium oxide, a synthetic compound with unique, temperature-sensitive properties, could one day be used in the coatings of "smart" windows that reflect heat from the sun only on hot days. An article also appeared on Inside Higher Ed.

Andre Filiatrault, director of MCEER, UB's national center of excellence focused on multi-hazard engineering headquartered at UB, is quoted in USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press and Slate magazine following yesterday's 5.8 magnitude earthquake in central Virginia.

Phillips Stevens Jr., associate professor of anthropology, was quoted in an article in the Toronto Star about "man hugs." Anthropologically speaking, he said, the increasing manifestation of public man hugs in the West is evidence of cultural change from aloof stoicism to the sensitive metrosexualism.

An article in USA Today about new research that suggests that the downsides of excessive drinking aren't enough to make college students stop quotes Laina Bay-Cheng, associate professor of social work, who conducted focus groups with young people ages 14 to 17 and found that when teenagers drink, they think they can blame their actions on alcohol.

An article distributed by the Associated Press reports that by the time they graduate, every student in the UB medical school will have gotten a lesson on the human cost of medical errors thanks to Mary Brennan-Taylor, an adjunct research instructor of family medicine whose mother died from hospital acquired infections and the use of numerous medications.

An article in the Toronto Globe and Mail about the death of a Japanese exchange student who fell to her death last week after losing her balance and falling over Niagara Falls reports on people who have survived the plunge and quotes UB physiology professor David Pendergast. Only a rare combination of luck and location explains how three people who went over the falls came out alive, he said.