CAS in the national news, October 2022

Photo Credit: Newspapers
Tue, 11/01/2022 - 13:18

Laura K. Muñoz, assistant professor of history and ethnic studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, was interviewed for an Oct. 6 USA Today article on many Latinos in the United States losing their Spanish fluency.

Chigozie Obioma, English, wrote an Oct. 5 article for The Guardian titled “Top 10 books about Nigeria” related to the new anthology “Of This Our Country,” featuring some of the country’s most celebrated contemporary writers. Obioma, who has twice been shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize, contributed a piece to the collection.

Geoff Lorenz, political science, was interviewed for an Oct. 7 Newsweek article on a possible successor to Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, who might resign to become the new president of the University of Florida. Lorenz said Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts is the most likely person to fill the seat.

Husker researchers John DeLongStella Uiterwaal and Alondra Magallanes, biological sciences, have found that wolf spiders’ hunting rate may peak when the temperature is 85 degrees. The experiment supports the idea that some predators may consume less prey once ecosystems surpass certain temperatures. Phys.org ran an Oct. 13 article on the research.

Kristen Olson, sociology, director of the Bureau of Sociological Research, was featured in an Oct. 14 Military Times article on the shortcomings of the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry. She is part of the committee analyzing the registry. “[Our findings] conclude that there are no refinements or improvements that will allow the registry to serve as a population health surveillance system,” she said. Yahoo! News picked up the story.

Margaret Jacobs, history, director of the Center for Great Plains Studies, was interviewed for an Oct. 24 Insider article on the U.S. Supreme Court reconsidering the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. The removal of Native American children from their homes is rooted in colonization, she said. The story was picked up by Yahoo! News and a few other media outlets.

John Hibbing, political science, was interviewed for an Oct. 25 Associated Press article on how the midterm election might affect Nebraska Republicans' efforts to ban abortion in the state. He said he expects the Nebraska GOP will pick up the seats they need to ban abortions but noted that the Supreme Court ruling "has put pressure on Republicans that they haven't felt before." The article was picked up by 250-plus media outlets, including ABC News, MSN.com, U.S. News and World Report, The Washington Post and Yahoo! News.