Faculty quoted by Times, Post, others on birds, quakes, more

Comments and research by UC Davis community members regularly appear in a wide variety of news media outlets. Among the recent citings:

Carol Cardona was quoted in the New York Times on Oct. 12 in an article on the transmission of avian flu. She declared migratory wild birds innocent, saying, "Dead birds don't fly very far." Cardona is a poultry veterinarian at the veterinary medicine extension. …

Two days previous, Carl Keen was also mentioned in the Times for his work on possible dietary benefits of chocolate. Keen, chair of the nutrition department, reported in the late 1990s that flavanols, organic compounds found in cocoa, can have a positive impact on reducing hypertension. …

In further health news, Andrew Waterhouse contributed to a piece comparing the antioxidant levels of grapes and wine in the Oct. 6 Washington Post. "With red wine, you get maximum extraction, with the darker reds usually containing more antioxidants," he said. Waterhouse is an enology professor. ...

Victor Montejo's election to serve in the Guatemalan Congress was featured in the Oct. 8 edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education. The former chair of the Native American studies department took a leave last year to end 21 years of political exile and become the first Mayan to head Guatemala's Peace Secretariat. …

John Rundle, a professor of physics, civil engineering and geology, and his team appeared in numerous newspapers on Oct. 5, including the San Francisco Chronicle, for their accurate predictions of recent local earthquakes. Rundle expressed surprise at his team's ability to forecast the location and magnitude of 15 out of 16 temblors over the past few months. "A scorecard of 15 out of 16 is fairly remarkable," he said in the article. "In fact, I'm amazed." …

Computer science and graphics doctoral student Karim Mahrous' late-night video-gaming sessions with Electronic Arts executive Bing Gordon were chronicled in the Oct. 13 Washington Post. Mahrous reportedly had no idea who the anonymous player on the other end was and was initially skeptical when Gordon -- the chief creative officer of the world's leading interactive game publisher -- first identified himself. Mahrous, who has interned at Electronic Arts, hopes to earn a permanent position there after graduating in the spring. …

Benjamin Segal and his team's discovery that companies' preliminary earnings announcements are not always accurate was reported in the Dow Jones Newswires on Oct. 8. The group found that figures are not always consistent between pre-release earnings and numbers submitted to the SEC. Segal is an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Management. …

Martina Newell McGloughlin, director of the UC Davis Biotech program, was quoted in a Sacramento Bee article focusing on whether publicly funded institutions should take sides on voter issues. At question are Nov. 2 ballot measures that would ban the growing of biotech crops. In the Oct. 13 article, Newell McGloughlin said her program will remain neutral on the issues but will try to educate the public on the measures. "We are trying ... to provide information for people to make an informed decision," she said. …

John Grubbs, director of pharmacy services for UC Davis Medical Center, appeared in an article on inflating flu vaccine prices in the Los Angeles Times on Oct. 14. He said the Medical Center is often approached by less-than-legitimate drug distributors. "These are secondary distributors who have been associated in the past with counterfeit products," he said. "We don't buy from them." …

Norman Matloff contributed to a story in the Oct. 14 Christian Science Monitor on why American software programmers are an endangered species. He points to a visa program that allows foreign programmers to work for a smaller salary than their domestic counterparts. Matloff is a professor of computer science. …

And an Oct. 8 Contra Costa Times story on threats facing California's water supply quoted Jeff Mount and Peter Moyle extensively. The two pointed out that more and more pressure is being put on the water delivery system relied upon by both humans and fishes. "If the Delta becomes a brackish water habitat, where are the options for getting (fresh) water to Southern California?" Moyle asked a conference on science and California water.

—By Mike Sintetos

Media Resources

Amy Agronis, Dateline, (530) 752-1932, abagronis@ucdavis.edu

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