UD in the News, Sept. 29, 2005

UD’s Disaster Research Center was featured in a Sept. 29 Chronicle of Higher Education online story about its studies of the problems resulting from the response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. John A. Barnshaw, a graduate student at the center who went to Houston to interview evacuees in the Astrodome, said the work was “emotionally labor-intensive. These people had lost their communities, lost their possessions, and were assuming the worst.” Also quoted in the story were Russell Dynes, professor emeritus of sociology and founding director of the DRC, Havidan Rodriguez, director of the center, and Joseph Trainor, a doctoral candidate in sociology.

The DRC also was featured in a Sept. 29 Philadelphia Inquirer story, which focused on the broader mission of the center and which quoted Rodriguez, Dynes, Tricia Wachtendorf, assistant professor of sociology, and Joanne Nigg, professor of sociology.

Charles Elson, Edgar S. Woolard Jr. Chair in Corporate Governance and director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, was quoted in a Sept. 29 Los Angeles Times story about interest being taken in Viacom by the wife of billionaire chairman and chief executive officer Sumner Redstone. "In a privately held company, a family company, that sort of relationship might be fairly common," Elson said. "But, in a public company Š it does strike me as somewhat unusual." Elson also was quoted in a Sept. 27 Albany (N.Y.) Times-Union story about the naming of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Shirley Ann Jackson to the board of IBM Corp. and in a Sept. 26 New York Times story about the Hollinger International board.

Benigno Aguirre, professor of sociology and a core faculty member at the Disaster Research Center, was quoted in a Sept. 28 Philadelphia Inquirer story about the reporting of widespread rumors about looting and unchecked crime in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. “It's discouraging for those who spend their lives studying disaster behavior that journalists so often get it wrong," he said.

Tricia Wachtendorf, assistant professor of sociology and a core faculty member at the Disaster Research Center, was quoted in a Sept. 27 Christian Science Monitor story about lessons learned in the evacuation preceding Hurricane Rita. "Obviously, we'd like to see those traffic delays reduced. But [the evacuation] was a success in being able to move that number of people, despite the delays," she said.

David Legates, associate professor of geography and state climatologist, was quoted in a Sept. 27 News Journal story about the effect of the dry summer on plants in the region. He said a high pressure system is keeping rainfall out of Delaware. "I've watched storms come across and move north through Pennsylvania or just die out as they hit the Chesapeake Bay. It's just an odd situation," he said.

Muqtedar Khan, assistant professor of political science and international relations, was quoted in Jefferson Morley’s Sept. 27 Washington Post World Opinion Roundup blog concerning efforts to reach out to Muslims by Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes. The quotes were taken from an opinion piece by Khan that appeared in the Sept. 24 Lebanon Daily Star. While Khan praised Hughes for reaching out to American Muslims, he said her message has a fundamental flaw. "She seems to think that at some level just countering the geopolitical ideology and radical rhetoric of the extremists will result in winning the hearts and minds of Muslims and reducing the anti-Americanism that is swelling the ranks of Jihadis everywhere. This assumption is a recipe for failure,” Khan said. "Just because the Jihadis are wrong in claiming that Islam teaches violence and demands that every Muslim wage Jihad against all non-Muslims; it does not necessarily mean that U.S. policies of supporting dictators (in Pakistan and Uzbekistan), maintaining close ties with monarchs and emirs, attacking countries on false assumptions, bringing death and devastations to entire nations and practicing torture, are right."

Daniel Marks, graduate assistant in sociology at the Disaster Research Center, was quoted in a Sept. 26 Business Week online story about small businesses and their recovery in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He cautioned about the debt burden for those small business owners who decided to take advantage of loans, even low interest loans.

J.A. Leo Lemay, Winterthur Professor of English, was quoted in a Sept. 25 Philadelphia Inquirer story about Benjamin Franklin as an entrepreneurial genius.

Lois Potter, Ned B. Allen Professor of English, was quoted in a Sept.25 Associated Press story about UD hosting the fifth biennial meeting of the International Association for Robin Hood Studies.

Matt Robinson, associate professor of sport management, was quoted in a Sept. 24 News Journal story on interest shown by women in NASCAR stock car racing. "It's all about expanding your fan base," Robinson said. "If you educate someone about a sport, they might not like it. But, if you add an entertainment aspect to it and market to them, you'll draw them in, and they'll become fans even if they don't like the sport at first."

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