2:57 p.m., Feb. 13, 2009----UD in the News provides a roundup of recent news items about the University of Delaware, its faculty, students, staff and alumni.

Thomas Fernsler, associate policy scientist in the University of Delaware's Mathematics and Science Education Resource Center, who is better known as Dr. 13, was much in demand this Friday the 13th. In addition to several radio broadcasts, Fernsler was cited in a Live Science story about Friday the 13th facts that made the main page of Yahoo!

David Hansen, associate professor of plant and soil sciences, was quoted in a Feb. 12 Cape Gazette story about a conference on the management of runoff and pollution.

Ralph Begleiter, Edward F. and Elizabeth Goodman Rosenberg Professor of Communication and Distinguished Journalist in Residence, was quoted in a Feb. 10 Associated Press story and a Feb. 11 News Journal story, and spoke on the Feb. 11 broadcast of National Public Radio's All Things Considered, about plans by President Barack Obama to review the ban on photography of coffins of men and women killed in military service. Begleiter filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in response to the ban in 2005. "The only way to assess the true cost of any war is to include in that assessment the people who have made the ultimate sacrifice -- not only the casualties themselves but also their families," Begleiter told the News Journal. "All of us as a nation need to pay our respects to those fallen troops and one way is to be aware of it."

Richard Sylves, professor of political science and international relations, was quoted Feb. 11 in a CNN report on destruction caused by tornados in Oklahoma, saying that the Federal Emergency Management Agency “is under scrutiny.”

Steve Mosko, former Blue Hen men's lacrosse player and now president of Sony Pictures Television, was quoted in a Feb. 8 Baltimore Sun story about lawyer and sports agent Ron Shapiro.

Gerald Kauffman, director of the Water Resources Agency at the University of Delaware, and several Water Resources Agency staff members appeared Feb. 6 on the WHYY-TV Delaware Tonight news broadcast about an Environmental Protection Agency report on the state of the Christina River basin.

Sharon Merriman-Nai, co-manager of the National Center on Elder Abuse at the University of Delaware, was quoted in a Dec. 19 article appearing in Medical Economics on the topic of elder financial abuse and exploitation. On Jan. 23, Merriman-Nai was quoted in the Flint Journal on the subject of elder neglect. The National Center on Elder Abuse is based at UD's Center for Community Research and Service in the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy.