Comments by UC Davis community members and references to the campus regularly appear in a wide variety of media outlets around the country. Among the recent citings in prominent publications:

Child psychology expert Anthony Urquiza was quoted extensively about Parent Child Interaction Therapy in a Jan. 28 Orange County Register story. PCIT is a therapy technique emphasizing positive, one-on-one interactions in a playroom environment. "PCIT requires the parent and child be together, learning and developing skills that make a healthy relationship, in real-life time right in front of you," said Urquiza, director of mental health services for the Child and Adolescent Abuse Resource and Evaluation Center. "They practice to the point of mastery."…

In more child development news, executive director of the Human Lactation Center, M. Jane Heinig, was quoted on the benefits of breast-feeding in the San Jose Mercury News on Feb. 7. Heinig, who edits the Journal of Human Lactation, acknowledged that breast-feeding rates in the United States are lower than they should be. "People see breastfeeding as optimal -- but not necessarily realistic," she said…

Pediatric epidemiologist Robert Byrd contributed to an Associated Press story on autism that appeared Feb. 4. Byrd's research revealed a 10-year increase in autism cases through 1998, though his team was unable to pin down a cause. "There's no one answer that … can explain what we're seeing," he said. "We're still looking at these numbers with lots of questions."…

Comments from psychology professor Keith Widaman appeared in the Feb. 4 Los Angeles Times in a story on how the justice system defines mental retardation. A Supreme Court ruling three years ago prohibited administering the death penalty to the mentally retarded, creating the question of how to define retardation. "When you get on the borderline of mental retardation, it is an interpretative job," Widaman said. "There are times when it is essentially a judgement call, and I could understand it going either way."…

Postgraduate researcher Kari Marie Norgaard's work was cited in a Jan. 30 Washington Post article on the plight of Northern California's Karuk Indians. Dams on the Klamath River have disrupted the Karuk tribe's principle food source -- salmon. Norgaard, who is in the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program, reported that the decline in salmon catch has led to increased poverty, unemployment and suicide in the tribe. …

Geology professor Jeff Mount was quoted extensively in a Feb. 6 Ventura County Star story concerning dams. Mount pointed out that flood control technologies such as dams and levees may ease residents' fears, but floods are inevitable. "Add dams and levees and other flood control efforts to that equation, and you get a false, elevated sense of security," he said. "People forget what living on a flood plain actually means." Mount went on to say, "there are two kinds of levees -- ones that have failed and ones that will fail."…

Agricultural Issues Center director Daniel Sumner contributed to a Feb. 6 Los Angeles Times piece on opposition to President Bush's budget proposal. In an attempt to curb federal spending, Bush's plan proposes cuts that some suggest are unfair. Sumner said if cuts in crop subsidies are approved, California farmers could bear a disproportionate share of the financial burden. …

Gail Feenstra of the Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education Program appeared in the Fresno Bee and the Western Farm Press over the past two weeks commenting on diet in California schools. She stressed the need to make California produce available for students in the Feb. 6 Bee, saying "We need to be doing this for the economic health of the farm community and the health of the schoolchildren. This isn't just some weird idea. This is a good thing, and it works." The Jan. 31 Western Farm Press cited a study Feenstra conducted that concluded children prefer fresh fruits and vegetables at school. …

History and religious studies professor Baki Tezcan was cited in a front page Feb. 6 Sacramento Bee story on Iraq's future. Tezcan, a Turkish native, pointed to Turkey's transformation into a democratic, secular nation as a possible path for Iraq. A more likely scenario though, he said, would be for Iraq's Shiite majority to join Iran and embrace strict Islamic laws. Tezcan said the U.S. occupation has created resentment and a heightened sense of nationalism among Iraqis.