UB in the News

An article on the Huffington Post reports UB researchers have found that "fracking," a process of extracting natural gas, also causes uranium that is naturally trapped inside Marcellus shale to be released, and quotes Tracy Bank, assistant professor of geology. Articles also appeared on the Natural Resources Defense Council staff blog Switchboard, Pollution Online, Oil and Gas Online, Water Online and EcoFactory.

An article on the Wall Street Journal's Real Time Economics blog reports on research conducted by Satheeshkumar Seenivasan, a doctoral candidate in the School of Management, that found that when people pay for food with credit or debit cards, they are more likely to buy unhealthy foods.

James Gardner, professor of law and an election law expert, is quoted in an article in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle that looks at steps a political candidate must take to have his or her name removed from the ballot. "You don't want candidates to be able to freely withdraw from the ballot after they've been nominated because the potential for deal-making at the expense of the electorate seems high," he said.

An article distributed by UPI reports plans to tap one of the largest sources of natural gas in the U.S. could release naturally trapped uranium into the environment, and quotes Tracy Bank, assistant professor of geology. Science Business, Science Centric, Science Daily, Science Blog and Environmental News Service also ran stories.

An article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune's On Weather blog about the unseasonable warm temperatures Minnesota is experiencing reports the NOAA just released a summary of summer conditions in the Arctic region and that the warming that occurred 4,000 to 6,000 years ago was substantial, but according to UB anthropologist Ezra Zubrow, "This was a slower change, about one-third the rate we face today….It took a thousand years for the earth to warm as much as it has over the past 300 years – roughly the time spanned since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution."

An article in the Wall Street Journal about the difficulties political scientists have predicting election outcomes quotes James E. Campbell, professor and chair of political science. "Congressional elections generally are more difficult," he says. "A lot of local factors come into play."

A story in USA Today about a New Jersey college that has banned alcoholic energy drinks on campus over concerns about the health risks the drinks pose quotes Kathleen Miller, research scientist at the Research Institute on Addictions, who said that if the college can't ban drinks like Red Bull and vodka from local bars, it won't be able to stop consumption of caffeinated alcoholic beverages, but banning the drinks on campus will send a signal. Articles also appeared in the Asbury Park Press, on WLTX-TV in Columbia, S.C., College News and England's Top News.

James Coleman Battista, assistant professor of political science, is quoted in an article in the New York Times about diminishing support for gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino, even in his home turf of Western New York. "They were interested in Paladino as a concept and didn't know much about him, except that he was mad as hell. But at this point, he's said something to annoy almost anyone," Battista said.

An article on Voice of America reports a new study by Chinese and American researchers has found polluted coal being burned in the home fireplaces has caused an outbreak of disease that damages teeth and bones. The article quotes Joseph Gardella, Larkin Professor of Chemistry, who said the rates of skeletal fluorosis in some of the villages in China are as high as 30 percent, although not all of the victims are suffering the most extreme disability. Additional articles on the study can be found on Science Daily and Medical News Today, and the south Asian news service ANI also distributed an article on the research.

An article on PhysOrg.com reports villagers in remote, rural areas of southwestern China who cook and dry their clothes by burning pieces of coal they pick up off the ground are being poisoned by a toxic substance released by the fuel, according to an ongoing investigation by chemists at UB. The research also is the subject of an article distributed by the South Asian news service ANI.