UB in the News

A story on the Huffington Post reports on research by J. David Smith, professor of psychology and cognitive science, that found that there is growing evidence that animals share functional parallels to humans in metacognition. Discover Magazine, PhysOrg and the Toronto Globe and Mail also reported on the research.

Suzanne Tomkins, director of the Women, Children and Social Justice Clinic in the UB Law School, and Remla Parthasarathy, an instructor in the Women, Children and Social Justice Clinic, were interviewed on NPR about the stereotypes Buffalo Muslims have faced in the wake of the 2009 beheading murder of Aasiya Hassan, who was killed after she filed for divorce from her husband, Muzammil Hassan. The murder, both said, was a clear-cut case of domestics abuse, and not an "honor killing" as many in the local community perceived it to be.

A story on BBC reports monkeys trained to play computer games have helped to show that it's not just humans that feel self-doubt and uncertainty, according to a study conducted by J. David Smith, professor of psychology. "These results…could help explain why self-awareness is such an important part of our cognitive makeup and from whence it came," he said. The article was picked up by a number of South Asian news outlets, including MSN India and the Times of India.

An article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about the suicide of a city police officer quotes John Violanti, professor of social and preventive medicine. "The job is a fertile arena for suicide," he said. "They have a gun, and there's exposure to trauma."

David Schmid, associate professor of English, was interviewed for an article distributed by the Associated Press about a Brooklyn man who went on a 28-hour stabbing rampage that led to the deaths of four people, and a number of injuries. While Americans have become increasingly familiar with certain types of multiple killings, "here you have someone who kind of can't be neatly slotted into one of those narratives," he said. The article appeared in hundreds of news outlets that include CBS News, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Metro Canada Toronto and the Albany Times Union.

Charles Lindsey, assistant professor of marketing, is quoted in an article in Mac News World about reports that indicate weak sales for the Verizon iPhone. "Both AT&T and Verizon excel in different areas and attract different types of users, depending on the focus," he said. The article also appeared in eCommerce Times and Tech News World.

An article on the front page of the Buffalo News looks at the impact a funding bill proposed by the House Republicans would have on Western New York, and reports that UB stands to lose between $17 million and $18 million in funding if the cuts go through. The article quotes Alexander Cartwright, vice president for research, who said the budget reductions would hit Buffalo especially hard. "This area," he said, "is in need of every bit of resources it can get." A related article details some of the programs targeted in the cuts, including Pell Grants for college students, UB's projected loss of $17 million in research funding and a projected 10 percent cut in funding to WBFO-FM.

An article in Business First looks at Buffalo's vibrant, cutting-edge medical research corridor in downtown Buffalo and its role as a leader in the research and development of lifesaving drugs and devices. The article interviews Robert Genco, vice provost and director of the Office of Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach, who said, "Probably two-thirds of our inventions (about half of which end up being patented) are in the life sciences/medically related area. It's quite an active area of research and creativity among our faculty." Related articles interview Marnie LaVigne, director of business development at UB's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences.

James Reynolds, chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, is quoted in articles distributed by HealthDay News and Reuters about a new study that found an inexpensive drug does a better job than laser surgery in treating an eye condition that can cause blindness in preterm infants. "We are going to save some babies who would have gone blind with the laser treatment. It will change the patterns of practice overnight," said Reynolds, who wrote a commentary accompanying the study. Other news outlets writing on the research include the Wall Street Journal, Med Page Today, Medical News Today, HealthCanal.com and Science News, the magazine of the Society for Science & the Public.

Victor Albert, UB Empire Innovation Professor in Biological Sciences, is quoted in an article in Wired Science about the carnivorous plant bladderwort and how it sucks in its prey in about half a millisecond. As meat eaters, these plants flourish in rough and strange habitats, he says. "They're just crazy." The article also appeared in Science News, the magazine of the Society for Science & the Public.