UB in the News

An article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on disaster plans and their effectiveness quotes Ernest Sternberg, professor of urban and regional planning, who says you have to plan with the assumption that you don't know what you'll encounter, because it's not possible, nor rational, to try to prepare for all contingencies.

An article in the Baltimore Sun on celebrities and television personalities who have gone to New Orleans to lend their support after Hurricane Katrina quotes Elayne Rapping, professor of American studies, who says "disasters are loved by the media and they're loved by the celebrities because it's very safe and it makes them look like such good people."

The current (Sept. 19) issue of BusinessWeek features as its cover story an article on earthquake and disaster risk in the U.S that quotes Michel Bruneau, professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering and director of the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research, who says that in a disaster, "the three most important things are power and water, acute-care facilities like hospitals and response-and-recovery capabilities. Strengthen these three and you are better prepared to deal with almost all eventualities."

Lee Albert, professor of law, is quotes in an article in yesterday's issue of the Kansas City Star on a case before the Kansas Supreme Court in which the Kansas Attorney General is seeking the medical records on 90 women and girls who received abortions in order to prosecute suspected cases of illegal late-term abortions and child rape.

An article in the Hartford Courant on the Jennifer Aniston-Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie love triangle quotes Elayne Rapping, professor of American studies, who says "celebrity culture still thrives on this idea of the scorned woman and the evil seductress."

An article in The Washington Post reports that the Environmental Protection Agency has issued formal guidelines for using information culled from tests that expose human subjects to toxic pesticides and quotes Alan Lockwood, professor of neurology, who says "Studies that do not meet the highest scientific and ethical standards should not be carried out or accepted by the EPA."

An article published by Reuters on Friday on models that predicted the New Orleans disaster quotes Ernest Sternberg, professor of urban and regional planning, who says law enforcement agencies were more eager to invest in high-tech "toys" than basic communications.

An article distributed by United Press International on whether New Orleans should be rebuilt quotes Daniel Hess, assistant professor of urban and regional planning, who says urban planners around the country already have begun meeting online to discuss what will become of New Orleans.

An article on Reuters News Service reports that virtually everything that has happened in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city was predicted by experts and in computer models, and quotes Ernest Sternberg, professor of urban and regional planning.

An article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the number of people who are turning to the Internet to look for hurricane survivors quotes Alex Halavais, assistant professor of communication, who says the disaster shows that the Internet is more closely tied to the physical and geographical world.