UB in the News

An article distributed by the Associated Press looks at a project titled "17 minutes" by performance artist Chris Barr, a graduate student in fine arts, that remembers his brother's suicide three years ago, and draws attention to the frequency with which people commit suicide -- every 17 minutes.

An article in USA Today on technical fouls in basketball and the stories behind them quotes men's head basketball coach Reggie Witherspoon, who remembered coaching a game in junior college in which the opposing team came out of a timeout with six players.

An article in the Chronicle of Higher Education reports on a study conducted by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport that found that while slightly more members of minority groups were hired as presidents, athletics directors and head football coaches in NCAA Division I schools during 2005, nearly 90 percent of all those positions still were held by white men and women. The article also reports that UB is the first Division I-A college to have an African-American athletics director, head football coach and head basketball coach. The Associated Press did an article on it that was picked up widely.

An article distributed by UPI reports that Michel Bruneau, director of the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research, has developed a "multi-hazard" design to make bridges more resistant to terrorist attacks and earthquakes.

An article in The Citizens Voice on addiction quotes Nancy J. Smyth, dean of social work, who says not all drug users are addicts and not all drug use is a disease, but "Once people start injecting heroin, you're not talking about people who are problem users, you're talking about full-blown addiction."

An article in the Chicago Tribune on a new surgical treatment for stroke quotes L. Nelson Hopkins, professor and chair of neurosurgery, who says "The Wingspan Stent has the potential to greatly reduce stroke caused by intracranial atherosclerosis."

An article on ABC News on the Supreme Court upholding Oregon's physician-assisted suicide law quotes Thomas T. Frantz, chair of counseling, school and educational psychology, who said "I suspect the government officials who brought this law suit have been fortunate enough never to see their aging mother or father laying in agony... praying for the peace that, given their long illness, could only come from death. Thank heavens the court was able to strike a blow for humanness."

An article in The New York Timesreports on the study conducted by Michael R. Frone of the Research Institute on Addictions that showed that millions of American have drunk alcohol on the job or before going to work. The research also was the subject of an article in the Los Angeles Times.

An article in The New York Times on business travelers who blog and why there are so few of them quotes Alex Halavais, assistant professor of communication, who says business travelers have several reasons to steer clear of blogging, because "Even a mention that you are in a particular city may sometimes be enough information for a competitor to surmise what is going on."

An article in the Argus Leader on superstitions about Friday the 13th quotes Phillips Stevens, Jr., associate professor of anthropology, who said the most popular theory about how the superstition started has to do with Jesus' death, and "For many centuries into the Middle Ages, the church regarded the killing of Christ as the most horrible crime of all time. Even though theologically it's recognized as the foundation for Christianity, it was a horrible, horrible event."