CAS in the national news, February 2023

Photo Credit: Newspapers
Wed, 03/01/2023 - 12:42

Ken Bloom, professor and chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, was interviewed for a Feb. 7 Symmetry article on a new white paper he co-authored detailing the ways that building and operating particle accelerators affect the environment — and how to mitigate those effects.

Deirdre Cooper Owens, history, director of the Humanities in Medicine program, delivered a Feb. 6 Black History Month lecture at the Medical University of South Carolina, The (Charleston) Post and Courier reported Feb. 14. She discussed Harriet Tubman’s widely unknown contributions to the U.S. medical system.

Cooper Owens was also quoted in a Feb. 27 PBS News Hour story on Alabama artist Michelle Browder, who is working to correct the historical narrative around the beginnings of gynecology. Cooper Owens said 19th-century physician James Marion Sims’ avoidance of anesthesia on his enslaved subjects rested on a widely held stereotype that Black people don’t feel pain — something contradicted in his own work.

Patrice McMahon, political science, director of the University Honors Program, was interviewed for a Feb. 14 Voice of America article on Ukraine beginning its plans for post-war reconstruction. She said a major challenge for Ukraine will be making sure aid money that flows into the country doesn’t flow into the pockets of foreign aid workers, nongovernmental organizations, contractors and others. The story was picked up by 25-plus media outlets.

John DeLong, biological sciences, and colleagues have found that a species of Halteria — microscopic ciliates that populate freshwater worldwide — can eat huge numbers of infectious chloroviruses that share their aquatic habitat. For the first time, the team’s lab experiments have also shown that a virus-only diet, which the team calls “virovory,” is enough to fuel the physiological growth and even population growth of an organism. Quanta Magazine published a Feb. 21 article on the research.

Kelsy Burke, sociology, co-authored a Feb. 23 piece for The Conversation on how Utah provides clues to the recent wave of state legislative bills limiting trans rights. The article pointed out that while Utah has passed laws like SB 16, which pauses all gender-affirming care while a “systematic review” takes place, it has also passed laws supporting LGBTQ rights. The article was picked up by 25-plus media outlets across the country.

The Iowa School for the Deaf’s cheerleading team — coached by Renca Dunn, a graduate student in communications studies at Nebraska — recently won the Great Plains School for the Deaf Cheer Championship. The team was featured in a Feb. 23 ABC News story.