UD in the News, Aug. 29, 2008

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9:34 a.m., Aug. 29, 2008--A roundup of recent news items about UD, its faculty, students, staff and alumni.

University alumni U.S. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. and wife Jill Jacobs-Biden have been featured widely in the media following the announcement that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama had selected the senator as his running mate. Since the announcement, Sen. Biden has been the subject of print and broadcast stories around the world and his speech to the Democratic National Convention aired Aug. 27. Jill was the subject of a feature story in the Aug. 25 issue of The New York Times and the Aug. 27 Philadelphia Inquirer.

Steve Schmidt, who attended UD and is now campaign manager for Republican presidential candidate John McCain, was featured in profile stories in the Sept. 8 issue of Time magazine and in the Aug. 21 issue of the Washington Post.

Scott Douglass, executive vice president, was quoted in an Aug. 29 News Journal story on the campus capacity and assessment review conducted by Ayers Saint Gross.

James R. Soles, Alumni Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Relations, was quoted in an Aug. 28 News Journal story about Joe Biden's speech at the Democratic National Convention.

Leland Ware, Louis L. Redding Professor of Law and Public Policy, was quoted in an Aug. 28 News Journal story citing leaders in Delaware's African-American community in advance of Barack Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention.

John Byrne, director of UD's Center for Energy and Environmental Policy, was featured in an Aug. 28 Royal Gazette (Bermuda) story about his presentation on energy and conservation projects around the world.

Charles Elson, Edgar S. Woolard Jr. Chair and director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, was quoted in an Aug. 28 Bloomberg News story about compensation for Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. Elson also was quoted in an Aug. 21 Associated Press story about shareholder resolutions on the issue of climate change, in an Aug. 17 Baltimore Sun story on executive pay, an Aug. 5 Wall Street Journal story about a Bristol-Myers Squibb bid for ImClone Systems. He also was quoted in an Aug. 4 San Jose Mercury-News story about Yahoo shareholders and in a July 27 Associated Press story about InfoGroup.

Stephen Barr, professor of physics and astronomy, was quoted in an Aug. 27 Investors.com story about 19th-century physicist James Maxwell. Barr said in the story that such things as telegraphs, airplanes, X-ray machines, computers and nuclear power might be unthinkable without Maxwell. “When it comes to technology that changes everyday life, probably nothing has been more important than electricity and magnetism,” Barr said.

Joan DelFattore, professor of English and legal studies, was quoted in an Aug. 27 National Public Radio NPR.org story about Joe Biden. "Of course some folks criticize Sen. Biden, some more bitterly than others. After more than 30 years in public life, that's a given,” DelFattore told NPR, adding, "No one I know doubts that his family values are deep and sincere."

Elena DelleDonne, a freshman at UD and one of the nation's most highly recruited basketball players, was featured in a wide variety of media Aug. 25-26 after announcing that she will play volleyball for the Fightin' Blue Hens during a press conference held Monday at the Bob Carpenter Center. DelleDonne had been a basketball recruit at the University of Connecticut, a national power. Media outlets carrying the story included ESPN.com, Associated Press, Philadelphia Inquirer, Hartford Courant, News Journal, New Haven Register, WHYY-TV Delaware Tonight, WFSB-TV and WVIT-TV in Hartford, and KYW-TV and WTXF-TV in Philadelphia.

Charles Robinson, professor of English, was featured in the Aug. 24 Sunday Times (U.K.) in an article about The Original Frankenstein, his book based on extensive research at Oxford University's Bodleian Library that will be published in October. He also was featured in an Aug. 24 Telegraph (U.K.) story about the book.

Joseph Pika, James R. Soles Professor of Political Science and International Relations, was featured Aug. 23 in a Washington Post online discussion of the selection of Joe Biden as the vice presidential candidate on the Democratic ticket. Pika also was quoted in an Aug. 25 USA Today story about the selection, and in an Aug. 26 Bloomberg News story that hailed UD as the “epicenter of politics” for its many connections to the presidential campaign.

Lindsay Hoffman, assistant professor of communication, was quoted in an Aug. 22 News Journal story about speculation swirling around U.S. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., a UD alumnus reportedly in the running to run with Democrat Barack Obama as a vice presidential candidate. "I don't think the media are really going to get anywhere by camping outside his house, but it kind of adds to the excitement," Hoffman told the newspaper.

Eric Wommack, UD associate professor of plant and soil sciences at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, was featured in Aug. 21 Science News and New Scientist stories about his research on deep sea viruses.

George W. “Bud” Malone, extension specialist with UD Cooperative Extension, was featured in an Aug. 21 Christian Science Monitor and an Aug. 20 Science Daily story about the use of rows of trees around poultry farms to reduce emissions of dust, ammonia and odor.

Kelvin Lee, Gore Professor of Chemical Engineering and a Delaware Biotechnology Institute Faculty Fellow, was featured in an Aug. 20 News Journal story about his appointment as director of the Delaware Biotechnology Institute. Mark Barteau, senior vice provost for research and strategic initiatives, was quoted in the story.

Michael Chajes, dean of the College of Engineering, was quoted in an Aug. 20 Bethany Wave story about the Indian River Inlet Bridge.

Brandon Bies, a UD alumnus now working for National Park Service as a cultural resources specialist at Fort Hunt Park, was featured in an Aug. 18 NPR Morning Edition story about the uncovering of a secret World War II interrogation camp at Fort Hunt, located near the Pentagon.

Heather Moore, a UD alumnus now working as community editor at The New York Times, answered questions from readers online from Aug. 18-22.

Timothy D. Murray, head of Special Collections for the University of Delaware Library, and Mark Samuels Lasner, senior research fellow at the library, were quoted in an Aug. 18 News Journal story about the addition of the Book of Hours to the collection. The book will be part of a special exhibition at Morris Library marking the 50th anniversary of the UD Library Associates.

Rudi Matthee, Distinguished Professor of History, gave a half-hour radio interview on drugs in Iran on Resonance FM, a cultural radio station in London. Matthee is the author of the award-winning book, The Pursuit of Pleasure, Drugs and Stimulants in Iranian History, 1500-1900.

Susan Strasser, professor of history, was quoted in an Aug. 13 News Journal story about Delawareans who take their own trash to the Cherry Island Landfill. The author of Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash, Strasser told the newspaper that the sanitary landfill was introduced in the 1930s.

Jeremy Firestone, associate professor of marine and Earth studies, was quoted in an Aug. 11 News Journal story about a proposed wind farm off the Delaware coast.

Lynn Snyder-Mackler, Alumni Distinguished Professor of Physical Therapy, was quoted in an Aug. 11 Cox News Service story about knee pain and knee replacement surgery.

Steven Most, assistant professor of psychology, is quoted and the University of Delaware mentioned in the new book Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (And What It Says About Us) by Tom Vanderbilt. The book was featured in the Aug. 10 issue of The New York Times, and is No. 10 on the newspaper's hardcover nonfiction bestseller list.

Mark Pellegrini, a doctoral student in the College of Engineering, was quoted in an Aug. 10 Washington Post story about a furor touched off on Wikipedia.org over an entry about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

William Poole, distinguished scholar in residence, was featured in a question and answer story about the state of the financial sector in the Aug. 10 News Journal.

Ed Ratledge, director of the UD's Center for Applied Demography and Survey Research, was quoted in an Aug. 7 News Journal story about increasing diversity in Delaware.

Martha Corrozi, watershed analyst with the UD Institute for Public Administration, appeared Aug. 5 on WHYY-TV's Delaware Tonight program in relation to recent research by IPA's Water Resources Agency on the health of the White Clay Creek. In the background of the piece is IPA policy scientist Ed O'Donnell, an expert fly fisherman.

April Veness, associate professor of geography, was cited in an Aug. 4 News Journal story about the deaths of two Guatemalan immigrants near Wilmington, Del.

David Barlow, associate professor of health, nutrition and exercise sciences, was quoted in an Aug. 3 News Journal story about Delawareans in Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Leland Ware, Louis L. Redding Professor of Law and Public Policy, and James O'Neill, professor of economics, wrote an Aug. 1 opinion piece in the News Journal about the need for financial literacy among students.

Ed Whereat, program coordinator in the College of Marine and Earth Studies, was quoted in a July 29 News Journal story about the Delaware beaches earning a clean bill of health. "There are no problems at the ocean beaches, in terms of swimming," he told the newspaper. "In general, the ocean beaches very rarely exceed the [health] criteria, and if they do it's just a very ephemeral event -- you go back the next day and that high bacteria count is gone."

Douglas C. Miller, associate professor of marine and earth studies, was quoted in a July 28 News Journal story about colonies of a sponge found in the Delaware Bay.