UB in the News

An article on MSNBC on companies such as Visa, Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Samsung trying to raise brand awareness by tying their products to the winter Olympics quotes Arun Jain, professor and chair of marketing, who said "Companies like Coke and Budweiser can't afford not to be there; the lost opportunity would cost them dearly. North America is no longer the growth market; India and China now represent the largest untapped markets. And brand awareness can lead to consumption habits."

An article in the Hartford Courant on blasphemy and the violent Muslim outrage in the Middle East and Europe over a cartoon of Mohammed quotes Elayne Rapping, professor of American studies, who says she believes it's no coincidence that so-called blasphemy seems to be more prevalent.

An article distributed by Reuters news service reports that after having their tonsils and adenoids removed because of obstructed breathing during sleep some children tend to become overweight, and quotes James N. Roemmich, assistant professor of pediatrics, who with UB colleagues investigated the effect of the operation on weight gain.

An article in Wired magazine looks at work by Michael Holden, adjunct professor in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and head of the Calspan-UB Research Center, to improve the aerodynamics of Olympic skiers. He says, "Getting the suit to fit right, getting the goggles and the helmet on correctly -- equipment can account for about 10 pounds of extra resistance."

An article in the Detroit News on GM's announcement yesterday that is freezing the benefits for white-collar workers quotes James Wooten, professor of law, who said, "It's another domino falling in the shift away from traditional defined-benefit plans toward cash balance and defined-contribution plans."

An article distributed by the Associated Press on making Olympic skiers more aerodynamic reports that those efforts include wind tunnel testing by Michael Holden, head of the Calspan-UB Research Center. He says, "Suits have an effect, I think, mentally if not anything else. Equipment matters, but fortunately it's got to the point now that that sort of this is less important than the skiers themselves."

An article distributed by UPI on new experimental drugs designed to target different mechanisms of HIV reports the drug the furthest down the road to clinical use, PA-457, dramatically wiped out about 95 percent of the circulating virus by itself, according to Patrick Smith, associate professor of pharmacy, who presented his report at the 13th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.

An article in The New York Times on the fabric used in the aerodynamic suits worn by alpine skiers in the winter Olympics reports that the fabric was tested "at a facility at the University at Buffalo normally used to analyze the properties of ballistic missiles."

An article in Boise Weekly on antibiotics and hormones that have been found in ground water wells in an Idaho neighborhood near a cattle feed lot quotes Diana Aga, assistant professor of chemistry, who says the science on antibiotic water contamination doesn't point to an acute health concern, but since the long-term health and environmental effects are unknown, the possibility that antibiotic contaminates could contribute to the development of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms is a concern.

An article distributed by the Associated Press looks at Ameen, a Muslim rite of passage that celebrates the first time a child reads completely through the Quran in Arabic, and quotes Faizan Haq, a lecturer in Cora Maloney College who teaches Islamic cultural history, who says "In America, the ceremony is highlighted even more. Being here, not in a majority Muslim culture, and still achieving this goal."