UB in the News

An article on United Press International news service on efforts by the U.S. government to computerize health information in order to deal more effectively with a bioterrorist attack or a pandemic reports the Calspan-UB Research Center has been awarded a $297,000 Health IT Implementation Grant to identify and support the planning of regional data-sharing and inter-operability activities that could collect and analyze data to discover bioterrorism threats.

A segment filmed recently by Medstar TV on a new, minimally invasive spinal surgery technique being used to help patients with lower back pain get relief faster features the work of Elad Levy, associate professor of neurosurgery, who says patients who receive this type of spinal fusion recover faster and with less discomfort that with conventional spinal-fusion surgery. The segment aired on WIS-TV in Columbia, S.C., among others.

The lead item in the Vital Signs column in The New York Times reports on UB research that shows that men who smoke are less likely to make a woman pregnant than nonsmokers, and the more they smoke the worse their chances are of conceiving. The article quotes Lani Burkman, associate professor and head of the Section on Andrology, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, who says "we don't have the answer yet" to whether quitting smoking helps fertility.

An article by Health Day news service reports on UB research that shows that smoking can reduce fertility in men and the more one smokes, the more the ability of sperm to bind to an egg is diminished.

An article in the San Luis Obispo Tribune on people's fascination with celebrity quotes Elayne Rapping, professor of American studies, who says the stars have become our surrogate friends and neighbors, and studies have shown many people spend more time with television and computers than with friends and family.

Research conducted by David Sandberg, associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics, on height and a child's social standing among schoolmates and the controversy over the use of human growth hormone to make children taller is the subject of an article that appeared in The New York Times Magazine.

An article in the Chicago Tribune on the subsidy dispute between Boeing and Airbus quotes David Pritchard, research associate at the Canada-United States Trade Center within the Department of Geography, who called predictions of a settlement of the trade dispute "just posturing."

An article in the Philadelphia Daily News on Delphi's bankruptcy filing and the economic ripple effects that are expected to be felt throughout the nation quotes Nallan Suresh, professor and chair of operations management and strategy in the School of Management, who says that "in the long term, bankruptcy could pave the way for taking a fresh look at the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing."

An article in the Business Week issue dated Oct. 17 reports that the National Theatre for Children (NTC) is performing 45-minute shows in New York for middle-school students, using sketch comedy to teach savings, budgeting and credit, and that Lewis Mandell, professor of finance and managerial economics, has been hired by the NTC to evaluate the impact of its new presentation.

An article in Macleans magazine looks at a poll conducted by UB and SES Research in Ottawa that surveyed resident of both countries on a wide range of issues from national security to energy policy, and showed the two nations defined more by our similarities than our differences. The article quotes Munroe Eagles, associate professor of political science and one of the people who first conceived of the study, who said that "what shows up clearly is that we share a great deal, including an interest in creating a secure North America."