In the media: Faculty inform the press

Following are selected examples of William & Mary faculty members quoted in the national and international media. - Ed.

Many medical devices still taxed under Baucus Health Bill

At the height of healthcare reform debate in Washington, D.C.  FoxNews called on Professor of Economics Jennifer Mellor to help decipher potential tax implications of pending legislation.

Mellor talked with Fox about potential reasons for the government to include tax increases in that legislation.

"When people have insurance, they use more medical care. It could be that [legislators] say that if you're going to provide a whole new set of customers, and these [medical device] firms are going to get some benefit from that, it might make sense that they also share in the burden of paying for these new benefits," she said in an Oct. 2 article.

Symphonies gingerly embrace digital performers

The nation’s symphonies have not been immune to the economic and cultural changes of the last decade. Symphonies nationwide struggle to break even much less remain profitable. Greg Bowers, assistant professor of music, talked with the Christian Science Monitor about why  music directors and conductors have been reluctant to use digital technology, digital music as a way to keep the symphonic art form viable.

“Orchestras are floundering. They want to fill seats desperately. A lot of them are cowering, they’re afraid to do anything that may challenge the audience. Their patrons are older and less amenable to new things. So you have this incredible, aesthetic bind,” he said.

Buffet's bet on trains

Legum Professor of History Scott R. Nelson provided a historical perspective to financier Warren Buffet’s latest investment in Burlington Northern Railroad in the New York Times’ blog, “Room for Debate.”

“Ever since the panic of 1819, the nation has tried to bail itself out of financial crises with infrastructure investments. It’s not surprising that an investor like Warren Buffett would be attracted to this strategy in this recession,” Nelson wrote.

William & Mary coach in it for the long run

When Mike Tomlin ('94) became the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl Championship in NFL history last season, it shed some long overdue attention on the football program at William & Mary. Behind the scenes of it all was the foundation of Tribe football, head coach Jimmye Laycock. Laycock, who is celebrating his 30th season coaching for William & Mary spoke to the Washington Post recently about his stalwart career at the college.

"I'm into players practicing the right way, doing things the right way, coaches handling things the right way. Next thing you know, you're into it for 30 years," he told the Post.

Looking back, Laycock remembers that upon inheriting the coaching position and accompanying meager facilities from former head coach Pat Dye, the college football hall-of-famer had this to say "’Go there like you'll be there forever, but get out of there the first chance you get.’" Laycock's typically humble response three decades later was merely to remark, "Maybe I ain't smart enough to figure the second part out."

College adminstrations are too bloated? Compared with what?

Two William & Mary Economics Professors, Robert B. Archibald and David H. Feldman recently had an article published in The Chronicle of Higher Education as to why colleges are suddenly so expensive. In their article, Archibald and Feldman dismiss the idea that the cost of higher education has gone up due to wasteful spending, and instead posit that the increase of tuition prices is related to a greater demand for more specific and specialized services.

“All industries have to react to the economic environment in which they operate, and any finding about higher education—or about any other particular industry, for that matter—needs to be checked carefully against behavior elsewhere in the economy,” they wrote.

 In short, the higher price tag might not be the result of careless spending, but an attempt to meet the more specific demands of the 21st century university.

Olbermann and Maddow

HarrimanVisiting Professor of Government and Public Policy Lawrence Wilkerson recently went on two MSNBC programs, "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" and "The Rachel Maddow Show" to discuss the policies of the Bush Administration as they related to the treatment of detainees and the threat alert level. Wilkerson, a retired army colonel and former Secretary of State Colin Powell's chief of staff  from 2002 -2005, had a privileged insight into these issues.

Wilkerson roundly condemned the interrogation policies of the previous administration, and was equally critical of former Vice President Cheney's assertion that these policies worked. “There is absolutely nothing in there that supports a direct cause-and-effect relationship between these sorts of heinous methods and the information gained," he told Olbermann.

Professor Wilkerson went on in "The Rachel Maddow Show" to criticize the use of the color-coded terror alert system as a political tool, saying that "we have these people in my party wrestling over whether or not there was enough shame to go around in that administration.  With all the challenges that this country confronts right now, this is really disturbing."

Rethinking North Korea, with sticks

When former President Bill Clinton made a surprise visit to N. Korea in early August to obtain the release of two American journalists who had been detained, tried and imprisoned in the country, national news outlets turned to William & Mary’s Mitchell Reiss for perspective on the visit. Reiss, the university’s Ambassador in Residence, is an expert on N. Korea and the history of U.S. negotiations with the country.

"Formal diplomatic engagement aimed at rolling back their nuclear program has run its course, at least for the time being," he told the New York Times about the current state of the U.S.'s relationship with its long-time foe. "The facts have changed. You have to change your strategy."

Reiss was also quoted in USAToday as well as in The Seattle Times and The Jakarta Globe. His week also included an appearance on NPR’s "On Point."

No ‘no' votes yet

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) recently questioned Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor . In a Des Moines Register article, William & Mary Professor C. Lawrence Evans, a Senate committee scholar, said that Grassley has proved to be an advocate for whistle-blowers and fraud victims, which makes him fun to watch during confirmation hearings. "It makes good sense to leaven all those attorneys with some nonlawyers," Evans said. "Grassley is good at asking questions that get witnesses and nominees to reflect about these broader policy concerns. He's also pretty tenacious about getting answers that are on point."

The paradox of the ‘perp walk'

A commentary about the "perp walk" by William & Mary Professor Scott Reynolds Nelson recently ran in the Chronicle of Higher Education. "While our rage and envy at the Astors, the Morgans, and the Madoffs may make us grind our teeth, ‘we' are not always raised up when ‘they' are brought down. As much as I like to watch the mighty fall, I would rather understand what happened. And the answers will not fit into 15 seconds of television," he said.

Courts face new challenges in faith healing cases

Most states have child abuse laws allowing some religious exemptions for parents who shun medicine for their sick children, but a few recent cases highlight thorny legal issues for parents following less-recognized faiths.  Jim Dwyer, a William and Mary Law School professor, said in an Associated Press article that it is complicated for courts to discern cases with unaffiliated religions because judges and juries aren't as familiar with them and are skeptical of their legitimacy. "The Supreme Court has adopted a very broad definition of religion," he said. "But ... you have to show sincere religious beliefs. Some judges might be skeptical of sincerity if it's something they've never heard of, if the person says, 'I don't belong to a certain church. I just have some beliefs that I saw on the Internet,' or 'In our own home, we've developed this set of beliefs.'"

Victims' speeches influenced Madoff ruling

Victims' statements and 113 letters filed with the federal court influenced the judge's decision in sentencing Bernard Madoff to 150 years in prison. William & Mary Law Professor Jayne Barnard was present at the trial, she was subsequently quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Newsday and the L.A. Times. "The victims were eloquent, they were dignified, and they told very powerful stories," she said in the WSJ article.

The art of the political comeback

In the wake of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's confession of infidelity, William & Mary English Professor Susan Wise Bauer was quoted in the Washington Post and on Fox News regarding her book "The Art of the Public Grovel" and political sex scandals. "If Mark Sanford hopes to stay in office, he needs to say, flatly, ‘I sinned,'" she said in the Post. "' He said, ‘I hurt people' and ‘I let them down,' which is only a good start."

Conservatives push for rival U.S. Anglican Church

A number of conservative groups in the past have left the Anglican Church, and they've since shrunk into virtual irrelevance. But this time, it might be different, said David L. Holmes, the Walter G. Mason Professor of religious studies at William & Mary, during a recent interview with NPR. “My sense would be if the Episcopal Church continued to lose members in a striking way, and this new group kept gaining members, it would be a new ballgame," he said.

Mexican police fleeing cartels find U.S. reluctant to grant asylum

As drug violence has worsened in Mexico, businesspeople, journalists and other professionals have been seeking refuge in the U.S. But few have as much at stake as law enforcement figures who defy the cartels. George Grayson, a Class of 1938 Professor of government at William & Mary, said in a recent Los Angeles Times article that if immigration judges began to grant asylum liberally to people fleeing the cartels, "We'd have literally tens of thousands of police officers coming to the United States, not to mention some mayors, too."

Hobbies long gone

Forbes.com recently talked with history and anthropology professors, collectibles dealers and experts on leisure time about hobbies that have come and gone with the ages. Scott Nelson, the Legum Professor of history at William & Mary, talked about how women once wove human hair into brooches, hair ornaments, picture frames and chatelaines (a key chain that hooks onto a belt), to commemorate dead people or loved ones away at war. The practice was especially popular in the South during the Civil War, said Nelson. Especially prized were bits of hair clipped from the locks of celebrities of the time, like Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis.

Mexican government shakes-up drug cartel

"La Familia is extremely volatile because of its diverse components and bloodthirsty fanaticism," professor of government and Mexico expert George W. Grayson told the Washington Post about one of Mexico's most violent drug cartels. His remarks came in the wake of  the detention of 10 Mexican mayors accused of protecting the La Familia cartel.

Obama nominates first Hispanic-woman to highest court

Law and government professor Neil Devins told NPR recently, "My sense is that Obama reached a conclusion that he would be unable to find someone who could move Kennedy to the left, so he looked to other political considerations." Devins comments came as analysis began on President Obama's selection of Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court. Sotomayor is being nominated to fill the seat created by the announced retirement of Justice David Souter.

Financial model is broken

As state funding shrinks for publicly supported colleges and universities, the schools are forced to re-think traditional funding models, according to a Business Week article also reprinted by MSNBC.com. William & Mary President Taylor Reveley was quoted in the story, which points out that state dollars made up 43 percent of the College's operating budget 30 years ago. Last year, it was 18 percent of the operating budget. "At this point, we're a privately supported university that also gets some meaningful state aid," Reveley said. The president's quote also ran in a piece in the New York Times.

Virginia Politics

Government professor John McGlennon, an expert on Virginia politics, was recently quoted in a New York Times article discussing how last November's election has impacted the Republican Party, including its party leadership in the Commonwealth. In the article, McGlennon discussed the change in leadership of the Virginia Republican Party, including the ongoing debate among moderates and conservatives within the party. "By Virginia standards, this is a pretty ugly street brawl," McGlennon said in the article.

A new policy of 'malign neglect'

W&M Diplomat-in-Residence Mitchell Reiss, a government and law professor, recently had an opinion piece on North Korea's launch of a rocket over the Pacific appear on a Foreign Policy Magazine blog. In the piece, Reiss suggests a policy of "malign neglect" in response to the launch. "These modest steps, forming a policy of 'malign neglect,' may be unsatisfying to many," he said. "But they have the merit of placing the burden for progress in the negotiations on North Korea, where they should be, on playing to U.S. strengths in our alliance relations in the region, and on aligning our nonproliferation interests for the Korean peninsula with those of the international community. "

Bad times mean new innovations

History professor Scott Nelson has a piece featured in the New York Times about the current economic crisis.  So what do Nelson, a business professors from Columbia University, a United States patent agent, and another author all have in common?  They believe economic downturns prove time and time again to be an opportunity for new innovations.  “Thousands of pre-manufactured wool coats were sold at auction in New York City. A small firm called Brooks Brothers bought them up, added civilian buttons and sold them on Cherry Street at closeout prices. Wholesalers were outraged, arguing that these manufacturers, auctioneers, and cheap vendors offered goods below cost, and should be jailed,” he wrote.  “Rather than jailing them, New York City imposed flexible regulations on New York’s auction houses. By 1818, $16 million worth of goods were sold by New York’s 43 licensed auctioneers. The $305,000 in proceeds financed a state-supported canal to Lake Erie.”

Mexico not a “failed state”

The College of William and Mary may be thousands of miles away from Mexico and its current war against rising drug violence, but George Grayson, a Mexico scholar here at the College, doesn’t hesitate to emphasize its importance to all of the United States.  An estimated 6,290 drug-related murders occurred in Mexico last year alone, and many see the Mexican government’s inability to curtail it as indication of it being a “failed state,” but others, like Grayson, see that as an exaggeration.  In USA TODAY and a San Francisco Chronicle article, he acknowledges that some areas have been overrun by drug cartels, but says, "I'm in the heart of Mexico City as we speak, and the buses are full of people, the metros are running, the shops are open and people are walking freely.  I don't see anything that looks like a failed state."

Keeping with the classics

In an article on MSNBC, Joyce VanTassle-Baska, professor and executive director for the Center for Gifted Education at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, weighed in on recent concerns that schools are switching to new curriculums that aren’t nearly as challenging to students.  What’s upsetting to many, including VanTassle-Baska is a dramatic shift away from yearlong studies of British, American and world literature in high schools.  "The reason they are called classic is because they have meaning across cultures and across time. Students exposed to the entire text are going to be exposed to the language, the complexities of language, the beauty of language,” she said.

- Get MSNBC story

Government needs to restore trust before economy can recover                                                                                                                        

Over the past few weeks, History professor Scott Nelson has been featured in a multitude of articles about the current economic recession, including an  Associated Press article  in which he talks about the Panic of 1873.  He elaborated in an interview with the Virginia Gazette a few days later.  When asked for his opinion on lessons to learn today, he replied, “The Secretary of the Treasury and the Fed chairman should focus on restoring trust in the current financial instruments. That would mean drastically re-tooling our credit rating agencies, bumping up the reserve requirements for banks, and nationalizing or selling the seriously broken banks.”

- Get Associated Press story

The children of foreclosure

William & Mary’s Patricia Popp is featured in an article on CNN.com, in which she discussed how the “Children of Foreclosure” are now falling behind in school.  Due to the fact that these students, some of them very young, have been forced to move several times, their education is being disrupted.  "The biggest issue is that when [children have to move] when there are other stressors going on, we know it puts these kids at greater risk for being behind in their academics," Popp said. 

- Get CNN.com story

D.C. voting rights   Their license plates may bear the famous slogan “No Taxation Without Representation,” but citizens of Washington D.C. still don’t have voting privileges—and for a good reason, according to William Van Alstyne of William and Mary Law School.  In the Voice of America article, he countered claims of unfairness with the word of the law. "Representation in the House [of Representatives] and the Senate are respectively and expressly provided for persons selected in the various states, not in Guam, not in any of our territories and certainly not in the District of Columbia," he said.

- Get Voice of America story

Tough times call for shrewd artists
Facing a dismal economic landscape, contemporary artists can take lessons from artists throughout history who found ways to thrive despite financial downturns. According to a New York Times article, artists who were able to do such were usually the exception and not the rule. Alan Wallach, a professor of art, art history and American studies at William & Mary, noted that the more established artists tended to fare the best during tough economic times. The art world in the 19th century was much smaller than it is now. Still, then as now, “some artists were admired and well known, while others labored in obscurity,” he said.
--Get New York Times story

Asian, Eastern oysters will not 'coexist nicely'
According to an article in the Washington Post, a decision will soon be made as to whether to introduce a new Asian oyster to the Chesapeake Bay. Proponents of the move say it will help replace the Eastern oyster population, which can no longer fulfill its role in the bay's ecosystem. However, others, including Roger Mann of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science say that the supposedly sterile oysters will still be able to reproduce. "It will happen, and we don't know when," he said. When it happens, the Asian oysters could wind up harming the native ones. The two species' sperm and eggs could essentially kill each other off. "It doesn't appear as if it's going to coexist nicely," Mann said.
--Get Washington Post story

Mexican investor will not sway the "Times"
According to an article in USA Today, The New York Times’ parent will receive $250 million from Mexican telecommunications billionaire Carlos Slim Helu in a deal that may, in the long run, make him one of the largest shareholders of Times Co.  Many, including professor George Grayson, a professor of government at the College and an expert on Mexican politics, do not believe he will influence the direction of the company in a major way, despite his investment.  “I don’t see him meddling,” Grayson said.  “Those of us who read the New York Times everyday I think will be uncorking champagne bottles because unless these papers are infused with capital they are going to cut back services.’  
--Get USA Today story.

Not oysters' job to save the bay
Many have claimed that recent efforts to restore oysters in the Chesapeake Bay and its many tributaries have been a step in the right direction, but Mark Luckenbach, who teaches at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, told the Hometown Glenburnie that the water of the Bay area will not be cleaned by oysters alone.  “You want to restore water quality, but the oysters won’t clean up the bay themselves,” he said.  “It’s your job to go clean up the water, not the oysters’ job.”
--Get Hometown Glenburnie story.

Problems with pirates
As China deployed warships to battle pirates off the coast of Somalia, the United States remained on the sidelines, according to a FOX News report. Linda Malone, the Marshall-Wythe Professor at the College's law school, told FOX editors that turning the pirates over to the Somali government is one possibility. "Obviously they don't have the best legal system or the most established government, but they would presumably take care of anyone who was a pirate," she said. "Technically, under international law, any country has jurisdiction to take them to their own country and try them there. [U.S. government officials] just don't want to do that."
--Get FOX News story.

People power in Bangladesh
An unprecedented political victory by the 14-party alliance over the 4-party alliance in Bangladeshi elections was related to the latters failure to keep its promises, M. Saidul Islam, visiting professor of sociology at the College, wrote in the New Nation. "The 14-party alliance should be proud of its achievement, but should not be arrogant," Islam wrote. "The greatest challenge it [faces is] to meet the promises it made; and if it fails, it has to embrace the same dooom as [the] 4-party alliance has [to] embrace today. Because, people has power."
--Get New Nation story.

In business jobs, as in college, one can always transfer
As financial-services jobs become scarce due to the Wall Street crisis, Edward Felton, clinical professor at the College's Mason School of Business, told Virginia Business magazine that graduating students would face fierce competition for professional positions. "The reality is that the students may have to start somewhere they really don't want to be, but it's kind of like being admitted to college: If one place doesn't turn out to be the fit for you, you can always transfer later," Felton said.
--Get Virginia Business story.

Crab perils in the Chesapeake
The number of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay has dwindled from 791 million in 1990 to 260 million in 2007, according to estimates released by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. In a related article, Robert Diaz, professor of biological sciences at the College's Virginia Institute of Marine Science, told the Virginian-Pilot that increasing areas of "dead zones" are a contributing factor. "The dead zones mean the crabs don't have enough food, and crowded in shallow areas, they're more vulnerable to being fished," Diaz said.
--Get Virginian-Pilot story.

Weaning farmers off of undocumented workers
New regulations announced by the U.S. Department of Labor will make it easier for farming companies to hire foreign guest workers but potentially will lower farmworker pay, according to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle. In the article, Cindy Hahamovich, associate professor of history at the the College, was quoted as saying, "The idea behind these rule changes is to wean farm employers off undocumented workers. The plan is to make guest workers cheaper and easier to get than 'illegal' workers. This has been tried many times before. The result was an expanded guest worker program but degraded living and working conditions for all farmworkers."
--Get San Francisco Chronicle story.

Heart for wounded warriors
“This is something close to our hearts, the wounded warriors who are coming home,” Patricia Roberts, assistant professor of law, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch for an article about the establishment of the Veterans Benefits Clinic at the College.
--Get Richmond Times-Dispatch story.

Bill Clinton meet Bill Clinton
There are two Bill Clinton's, and they do not know each other, David Holmes, professor of religious studies, recently told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “Two William Jefferson Clintons clearly exist. The Sunday-morning Clinton, pious, optimistic, principled, sincere, good-willed ... and the Saturday-night Clinton, willful, demading, risk-taking, unfaithful ... ,” Holmes said. “He is a man of contrasts, and each side of Clinton seems unaware of the other.”
--Get Baton Rouge Advocate story.

Change of the clock and exercise
Changing exercise patterns from evening to morning with the fall-back from daylight savings time has drawbacks, Michael Deschenes, a physiologist and neurobiologist at the College, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently. He said “those drawbacks are less prounounced with moderate, aerobic-type exercise like your daily jog. The main problem is that the body's internal clock regulates core and muscle temperature to be at its lowest early in the morning.”
--Get Atlanta Journal-Constitution story.

Mexico's Obrador seeks 'chaos'
"Lopez Obrador has overplayed his hand," George Grayson, professor of government, told Bloomberg regarding the former presidential candidates public opposition to a move to allow state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos to hire private companes to explore and drill for oil. Obrador, an anti-globalization figure in Mexican politics, claims the decision will transfer Mexico's oil wealth to foreigners. "His goal is chaos," Grayson said.
--Get Bloomberg story.

Nelson on the 'real' Great Depression
"When commentators invoke 1929" in reference to the current economic woes faced by the United States, Scott Nelson, professor of history, is "dubious," he wrote in a recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education. “According to most historians and economists, that depression had more to do with overlarge factory inventories, a stock-market crash and Germany's inability to pay back war debts." Nelson suggested that none of those factors constitute a current issue.
--Get The Chronicle of Higher Education story.

The $700 billion 'nuclear option'
John Boschen, associate dean at the Mason School of Business, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that he favors government intervention to shore up ailing financial markets but added "$700 billion is a nuclear option." Boschen continued, "There are things you can do that are not so dramatic. We are headed into a recession, regardless. I don't think the recession will be a lot worse if the proposal is watered down."
--Get Times-Dispatch story.

Overcoming Hurricane Ike with humor
Humor can be essential in helping with recovery, John Morreall, professor of religious studies, told the Houston Chronicle for a story on recovery from Hurricane Ike. However, humor takes time. “When you have to rescue your child from the second floor, you have no use for humor. But days later when you catch your breath, kidding and joking allow you to rise above the experience. Humor can be the opposite of stress."
--Get Houston Chronicle story.

Will economic slowdown undermine environmental concerns?
J. Timmons Roberts, professor of sociology at the College, was asked by Reuters news service whether an economic downturn in the United States would disrupt an increasing "global conscience" regarding the environment. Roberts said, "It's hard to tell. For some consumers who buy fair trade coffee, for instance, it may now not be a part of their budget."
--Get Reuters story.

Grayson: No Veep for Virginia
George Grayson, the Class of 1938 Professor of Government at the College, opened a recent opinion piece published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch as follows: "The Democratic and Republican conventions have ended, the presidential run for the roses is in full swing, but, as has been the case for 168 years, no Virginian landed either major party's second spot." After considering several conditions that may have helped Virginia become "the Rodney Dangerfield of the veepstakes," Grayson suggests that national attention given to Gov. Tim Kaine and to Sen. Jim Webb may play in the commonwealth's favor in terms of producing a vice president of the United States.
--Get Richmond Times-Dispatch story.

Laycock 'humbled' and 'embarrassed'
Tribe head football coach Jimmye Laycock told Sporting News that he is embarrassed about the fact that the new football facility at the College bears his name. "I'm very honored, but very humbled," Laycock said. "When they decided to do it, it caught me very much by surprise, and to a certain extent, to be honest with you, it bothers me."
--Get Sporting News story.

Reiss urges world to not write off McCain
In an article in TheAge.Com, Mitchell Reiss, vice provost for international affairs at the College, cautioned international observers caught up in the popularity of Barack Obama not to assume he Democratic candidate will win the November election. Regardless, Reiss said, "There are not very many countries in the world that can boast the variety and quality of candidates who ran for the U.S. presidency. That speaks very well to the vibrancy and openness of our political system."
--Get TheAge.com story.

Reveley: War powers for good of country
William and Mary Interim President W. Taylor Reveley, co-director of the news-making National War Powers Commission, told the Stars and Stripes that proposed changes in the War Powers Act relied on Congress and the president acting "for the good of the country" as opposed to being influenced by political expediencies. The commission's new plan would require the president to inform Congress within three days of committing troops to any overseas combat operation expected to last more than one week.

During an audio interview with KMOX (St. Louis), Reveley said the commission "tried to craft a very practical, very realistic way for the president and the Congress, really for the first time to get together and meaningfully talk to one another before we commit troops ."
--Get Stars and Stripes story.
--Get KMOX story.

Thomas Jefferson is "the one"
It was Thomas Jefferson's intellectual curiosity that set him apart from his peers, David Holmes, Walter G. Mason Professor of Religion at the College, told CNN during a video interview. Although other 'Enlightenment' and 'Renaissance' men came behind him, in the Colonies, "he was the one," Holmes said.
--Get CNN video.

Home-brewed soup of chemicals
Responding to an Environmental Protection Agency study that linked a dramatic rise of thyroid disease in cats to dust in the homes, Robert C. Hale, professor of enviromental health at the College's Virginia Institute of Marine Science, told the JCFloridian that the culprit was not merely flame-retardant PBDE. "What's the hazard level? We really don't know," Hale said. "We have this soup of chemicals in our houses. There's a lot of other stuff in house dust."
--Get JCFloridian story.

Winnie the whimbrel's record-setting flight
Winnie the whimbrel's 3,200-mile flight in less than 146 hours from the Delmarva Peninsula to the High Arctic caught the science community by storm after it was tracked by scientists at the College's Center for Conservation Biology. "This discovery sets a new distance record in the flight range of this species and highlights the hemispheric importance of the Delmarva Peninsula as a staging area for migratory shorebirds," Bryan Watts, research professor of biology, told the Toledo Blade.
--Get Toledo Blade article.

Biodiversity as a public-health service
In an article in Science Daily titled "Diversity among bird populations found to reduce threat of West Nile Virus," John Swaddle, associate professor of biology at the College, explained, "Biodiversity is giving us a public-health service that people have rarely considered, and the value of this service should be considered when developing land and managing bird populations in the future."
--Get Science Daily story.

Mexico's problems with conditional aid
The opposition of Mexico's government under President Felipe Calderon to accepting conditional aid from the United States has roots in the Mexican-American War in the 1840s, George Grayson, professor of government, told Bloomberg Press. "The whole idea of accepting assistance from the United States raises the hackles of many of Mexico's elites," Grayson said. "What was already an awkward position for the Mexicans has now become untenable."
--Get Bloomberg story.

Some people read books; Bolger gets degrees
Ben Bolger, a visiting assistant professor of sociology at the College, recently was asked by the Detroit Free Press about his overcoming dyslexia on his way to earning 11 advanced degrees. "Look, a lot of dyslexics excel in athletics or business, but you don't hear about them in academics," Bolger said. "I just love learning, and I'm an intense person. A lot of people are curious, and they'll read a book. I'll get a degree."
--Get Detroit Free Press story.

Global warming is affecting the Chesapeake now
Global warming has meant that springtime in the Chesapeake region is starting three weeks earlier than it did 50 years ago, J. Emmett Duffy, professor of marine science at the College's Virginia Institute of Marine Science, told the Baltimore Sun. "Climate change is not a future threat," he said. "It's happening now, and it's already affecting many plants and wildlife."
--Get Baltimore Sun story.

Chavez seen as Latin America's new bogeyman
Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez is seen as replacing Cuba's Fidel Castro as Latin America's "new bogeyman," according to an article in the Lake Placid News. In the article, Judith Ewell, Newton Professor Emeritus at the College, explained that Chavez merely is following in the footsteps of previous Venezuelan governments in exerting foreign policy to influence domestic goals. "As long as the reserves [of oil] and revenues remain strong, he will be able to finance an active foreign policy, exerting pressure for regional coalitions against the great powers," Ewell said. "At home, he can afford the many social measures he has initiated, or revived. As long as he can deliver on these promises, he is likely to retain the loyalty of a large portion of the population."
--Get Lake Placid News story.

Clinton's supporters will warm toward Obama
"At this point in time, people who are for Clinton are much more negative than they will be in November," Ron Rapoport, professor of government, said during an appearance on the PBS series The News Hour. "We've done surveys with activists, and what we find is that the more active you were for a losing candidate (in the primary), the more active you'll be for the winning candidate [in the general election. Over time, people like the nominee more and more."
--Get News Hour story.

Bringing physics and theatre together
In trying to connect science and theater students, Rosa Alejandra Lukaszew developed a "physics and theatre" seminar, according to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education. "I thought a class like this might merge the two types of students and let them find out what they have in common," Lukaszew said.
--Get Chronicle of Higher Education story.

Trivial economic differences between Democrat contenders
As Democratic presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton took sides on a proposed "gas-tax holiday," Olivier Coibion, assistant professor of economics at the College, told the Virginian-Pilot that economic distinctions between the two were "pretty trivial." She said, "There are really few differences in terms of overall goals."
--Get Virginian-Pilot story.

Poor Mexican schools hamper U.S. immigrants
According to an article in USA Today, George Grayson, professor of government at William and Mary, believes that "the deficiencies of Mexico's schools could have serious consequences for the United States" in that "poorly educated immigrants take longer to assimilate and lack the skills that U.S. companies need to compete."
--Get USA Today story.

Waterfront property: Eagles' needs vs. humans' wants
"Eagles need waterfront property. We [humans] want waterfront property," Byran Watts, director of the Center for Conservation Biology at the College, told the Washington Post for a story titled "Naval facility steps up efforts to protect eagles." In the same story, Libby Mojica, a research biologist with the College, added that the Chesapeake Bay region is important for the species. "It's supporting eagles all over the country," she said.
--Get Washington Post story.

Making meaning together
"Humans everywhere, [anthropologists] know, make meaning together in song-laden sacred rituals, loud messy conflicts, or calm conversations," Barbara King, professor of anthropology at the College, wrote in a book review for the London Times. "It is in creative, contingent, unpredictable and emotional meaning-making that our human nature lies."
--Get London Times article.

Obrador's world
"Lopez Obrador lives in his own world," George Grayson, professor of government at the College, told the VOA News concerning the former Mexican presidential contendor's reaction to an energy reform bill in the nation's congress. "He (Obrador) is completely out of touch with the global economy ."
--Get VOA news article.

Sea level rise imperils Va. Beach
"Some of the highest elevations in Virginia Beach are only about plus 20 feet above mean sea level," Carl Hershner of the College's Virginia Institute of Marine Science told the Governor's Commission on Climate Change, according to WVEC.COM. "So, as the sea level comes up a foot or two and the storm surge rises on top of that, there are significant parts of the city that are at significant risks."
--Get WVEC.COM story.

Electro-positive shark defense
"Individual sandbar sharks would generally not approach the metal ingots claser than about 24 inches, nor attack pieces of cut bait suspended within approximately 12 inches," Richard Brill, head of the Cooperative Marine Education and Research Program and the College's Virginia Institute of Marine Science, told Science Daily concerning a study of electropositive alloys as a means of overloading the sensory systems of sharks. "This is a positive step," he said.
--Get Science Daily article.

Second amendment's 'non sequitur'
The second amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees an individual the right to keep and bear arms, is problematic in that the right is often interpretted only as a collective right, according to William Van Alstyne. the Lee Professor of Law at the College, according to an article in the New York Times. "Perhaps no provision in the Constitution causes one to stumble quite so much on a first reading, or second, or third reading," Van Alstyne previously wrote, according to the story. "[There is] and apparent non sequitur ... or disconnection of a sort in midsentence."
--Get New York Times story.

The price of peace in Northern Ireland
Mitchell Reiss, vice provost for international affairs at the College, told the BBC News that he had "some pretty violent disagreements" with British officials over how much "pain to inflict" while attempting to get Sein Fein to deliver its side of the Good Friday Agreement in the Northern Ireland peace process. Reiss, who served as a U.S. special envoy to Ireland, "put down some red lines" of his own, according to the article, when he crossed Gerry Adams off the White House's St. Patrick's Day celebration in March 2005 and imposed a fundraising restriction on Sinn Fein visas.
--Get BBC story.

Bloomberg's exploratory moment
Amidst speculation that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg would announce his intention to mount a third-party bid for the presidency of the United States, Ron Rapoport, professor of government at the College, told the [New York] Daily News that the mayor's participation in a January bipartisan conference concerning Washington gridlock was "an exploratory moment. And it gets publicity, which keeps the agenda in front of the public."
--Get Daily News story.