UB in the News

Pierre Fouche, a Haitian doctoral candidate in the UB Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, was a guest on National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation yesterday. Fouche, who studies earthquake engineering with Michel Bruneau, UB professor of civil engineering, discussed reconstruction efforts in Haiti along with Lawrence Vale, an expert in post-disaster reconstruction at MIT. The interview may be heard at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122986056. WBFO aired a story based on the interview, which may be heard at http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wbfo/news.newsmain/article/0/1/1604602/WBFO.News/UB.earthquake.engineering.student.hopes.for.strict.building.codes.in.Haiti. The story also reports that Andre Filiatrault, professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering, is heading up a UN team now in Port-au-Prince that is assessing the integrity of the remaining structures. Fouche also was quoted in an article in Homeland Security Newswire about Haiti's archaic building practices.

An article in the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin on the importance of research to the health of a university -- in this case, Binghamton University -- and the local economy quotes UB President John B. Simpson, who said every $1 million in federally sponsored research results in 29 jobs in the community.

An article on Chemical & Engineering News reports John P. Richard, professor of chemistry, is the winner of the 2009 Jacob F. Schoellkopf Award, given by the ACS Western New York Section for outstanding work and service in chemistry or chemical engineering. The recognition also appeared in the newsletter of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Elayne Rapping, professor of American studies, is quoted in an article distributed by the Associated Press about "Octomom" Nadia Suleman and the way she uses the celebrity media for attention and to make money that can be used to raise her children. A reality show could be more lucrative but, Rapping says, "What I suspect is that they don't want to take a chance on her because she's almost a little too crazy for reality television." The article appeared in more than 200 news outlets throughout the nation, including The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, CBS News, Houston Chronicle, Syracuse Post Standard, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times.

An article in the Boston Globe about a Massachusetts police officer who committed suicide after years of troubling behavior quotes John Violanti, research associate professor of social and preventive medicine.

An article distributed by McClatchy-Tribune News Service about the largely unregulated and substandard construction that has long been accepted on Haiti quotes Pierre Fouche, a Haitian working on his doctorate in earthquake engineering at UB, whose goal is to find affordable methods to strengthen his country's lax standards and structures. The article appeared in news outlets that include the Miami Herald, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Palm Beach Post, Stars and Stripes and Taiwan News.

A Utica Observer-Dispatch story on minority hiring quotes associate professor of law, Rick Su.

An article distributed by UPI reports researchers at UB and King Saud University in Saudi Arabia are working together to develop a breast cancer vaccine. An article in Business First also reports on the research.

An article in the Cincinnati Enquirer on the hundreds of hours of overtime and unused holiday, vacation and sick days officer in the Cincinnati Police Department will cash in to increase their pay when they retire quotes Jerry Newman, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Organizations and Human Resources and a compensation expert.

An article in the Baltimore Sun on the true cost of heart stents quotes William E. Boden, professor of medicine and preventive medicine, who says in many instances stents are "overused and in some cases abused."