UNE in the News
Below are selected faculty quotes and stories about the University of New England and members of the UNE community from recent media stories.
Some of the media websites require that visitors register before they can view pages. Most of these registrations are free.
Maine Sunday Telegram and WGME cover UNE's commencement ceremony
The Maine Sunday Telegram and WGME 13 ran stories on UNE's commencement ceremony, which took place at the Cumberland County Civic Center on May 19, 2012. U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree delivered the commencement address, and UNE awarded 1,183 degrees.
The Telegram story interviewed education graduate Briana Chu's mother, Alison Chu, and Sarah Watras, who came to watch her husband, Christopher Watras, one of 131 physicians receiving degrees from the College of Osteopathic Medicine. The Press Herald also covered UNE President Danielle Ripich's remarks, and both the Press Herald and WGME covered Rep. Pingree's address.
More than 60 online media outlets, including the Boston Globe, Denver Post, and Cincinnati Enquirer also picked up stories on UNE's commencement.
Posted on: 05/20/2012
David Smith’s recent Psychology Today blog post discusses the variable definition of human
David Livingstone Smith, Ph.D., UNE associate professor of philosophy, who writes a blog for Psychology Today, posted a column titled “What Does it Mean to Be Human?”.
Smith writes: “If ‘human’ means ‘my own natural kind,’ then referring to a being as human boils down to the assertion that the other is a member of the natural kind that the speaker believes herself to be.” Read the entire post.
Smith is the author of Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave, and Exterminate Others, as well as Why We Lie: The Evolutionary Roots of Deception and the Unconscious Mind and The Most Dangerous Animal: Human Nature and the Origins of War.
Posted on: 05/17/2012
Brain Duff interviewed by Portland Press Herald for story about recent poll of Maine voters
Brian Duff, Ph.D., UNE associate professor of political science, was interviewed by the Portland Press Herald for a story on Mainers' favorability ratings of President Obama and presdiential candidate Mitt Romney. The story, which ran on Saturday, May 12, 2012, was also picked up by the Kennebec Journal.
Duff asserted that Romney’s rating in Maine, which is higher than the national average, may be a reflection of the fact that Mainers don’t know much about Romney yet. He stated that people tend to have a less favorable opinion of Romney the more they learn about him.
Duff also acknowledged that Maine’s favorability rating of President Obama is lower than the national average but suggested that the numbers do not reflect a need for Obama supporters in Maine to be overly concerned.
Author of The Parent as Citizen: A Democratic Dilemma, Duff has also published research on feminist theory, voting, and the politics of race and ethnicity.
Posted on: 05/14/2012
Journal Tribune editorial supports UNE Camp Ellis pilot ferry project
A May 9, 2012 editorial in the Journal Tribune lauded UNE's three-week pilot ferry program that ran between Camp Ellis in Saco and UNE's Biddeford Campus April 9-28th.
The project was conceived by the environmental studies class of professor Noah Perlut, and its implementation was a group effort overseen by Alethea Cariddi, UNE’s sustainability coordinator.
In practice, the ferry was well received: According to Cariddi there was a total of 29 regular commuters who used the ferry and another 31 other people who tried it out. Ferry users averted roughly 1,260 miles of car travel in three weeks it was in operation, she said.
The editorial expressed hope that the project would resume in the fall.
Posted on: 05/10/2012
Ali Ahmida interviewed by Radio Monte Carlo on U.S. presidential election
Ali Abdullatif Ahmida, Ph.D., professor and chair of the UNE political science program, was interviewed about the U.S. presidential election on Radio Monte Carlo in Arabic on May 4, 2012.
Ahmida is the author of The Making of Modern Libya: State Formation, Colonialization and Resistance, and several other books on Libya and North Africa. Find out more about Ahmida and read and listen to a number of his other recent interviews.
Posted on: 05/10/2012
Brian Duff interviewed by WMTW News on 'helicopter' parents
Brian Duff, Ph.D., UNE associate professor of political science, was interviewed for a May 7, 2012 WMTW 8 story on the phenomenon of overprotective, or "helicopter," parents.
Duff told WMTW that "helicopter" parents are often responding to a feeling of helplessness regarding their own adult responsibilities - their careers, their marriage, and our politics. When parents feel uncertain about how to succeed in adult life, they often focus on giving their children every possible advantage to compete in a brutally competitive world. In getting so involved in their children's lives, parents also get to escape the adult world that has disappointed them.
Duff, who has spent the past year as the Coastal Studies Scholar at Bowdoin College during a sabbatical, is the author of The Parent as Citizen: A Democratic Dilemma. He has also published research on feminist theory, voting, and the politics of race and ethnicity.
Posted on: 05/08/2012
Journal Tribune and WMTW feature stories on Big Blue CCC softball champs, who begin NCAA Division III tournament Thursday
On May 7, 2012 the Journal Tribune and WMTW8 featured the UNE softball team's Saturday victory over Salve Regina in which it captured the Commonwealth Coast Conference championship and an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament.
The team will face the State University of New York at Plattsburgh when the 2012 NCAA Division III Softball Championship begins on Thursday.
The Journal Tribune story recaps the game and season, including interviews with UNE head softball coach Dan Letellier, catcher Ashley Gott, and pitcher Kelly Reid. Read the entire story. The WMTW story interviews Reid and Gott. Watch the video.
Posted on: 05/08/2012
Brian Duff interviewed by Bangor Daily News on the increase in births to single mothers
Brian Duff, Ph.D., UNE associate professor of political science, was interviewed for a May 7, 2012 Bangor Daily News story on the increase in births to single mothers in Maine.
The number of marriages in Maine is down 10 percent over a decade, married births down 21 percent and births to unwed mothers up 21 percent, according to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Data, Research and Vital Statistics office.
Duff told the newspaper: "There’s no doubt this trend is going to make it very, very hard for a lot of Maine families to get by without some social support. We can offer that social support to toddlers who need good pre-K or we can offer the social support to teenagers who get in trouble with the law; it is probably cheaper if you give it to the toddlers.”
He also noted that studies show that in single and cohabitating households, measures of physical and mental health, future incarceration rates and the likelihood of graduating from college are poorer than in married households.
Duff, who has spent the past year as the Coastal Studies Scholar at Bowdoin College during a sabbatical, is the author of The Parent as Citizen: A Democratic Dilemma. He has also published research on feminist theory, voting, and the politics of race and ethnicity.
Posted on: 05/07/2012
Research by UNE medical student Rob Zondervan is covered by dozens of media outlets
U.S. News & World Report, MSN Health, Health Day, MedPageToday.com, AuntMinnie.com and dozens of other online media outlets ran stories on research presented at the American Roentgen Ray Society annual meeting in Vancouver May 1, 2012, by first-year UNE College of Osteopathic Medicine student Rob Zondervan and colleagues.
The new study of young people who underwent CT scans suggests that their risk of dying from a condition related to their radiation exposure is far less than dying from the original disease they faced. Co-investigators for the study are Susanna Lee M.D., Ph.D., and Peter Hahn M.D. Ph.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital.
Zondervan told AuntMinnie.com (a news outlet for radiologists) that he hopes the study will affect thinking about CT in two ways.
"We now have a list of common CT indications where people interested in radiation reduction can focus their efforts to have maximal impact, and also we now provide mortality rates for these patients showing that, yes, radiation reduction is very important, but also that these patients are at higher risk than the average person, even someone receiving just one scan," he said.
"So it's OK to use CT scanning: These patients are at risk, and the risk of dying from the underlying morbidity is much higher than the risk of dying from radiation-induced cancer," Zondervan said.
"Lowering CT x-ray dose would proportionately decrease the predicted number of radiation- induced cancers, but dose reduction needs to occur in ways that do not result in greater radiologist uncertainty."
Before entering UNE's medical school, Zondervan, was an imaging analysis specialist at the Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center: Tumor Imaging Metrics Core in Boston.
Posted on: 05/03/2012
Press Herald covers multicultural graduation celebration with story, video
The Portland Press on May 2, 2012 covered Tuesday night's Multicultural and International Graduation Celebration at the University of Southern Maine in Portland, which recognized the achievements of the multicultural student population from the USM, the University of New England and Southern Maine Community College.
UNE medical biology student Shirwac Hussain Ali '12, a native of Somalia, was interviewed about his life and future plans.
UNE students Veneranda Kirway '12, medical biology; Bailey Booras '14, political science; Melissa Hue '15, medical biology; Chinonye Okeke '15, biochemistry/pre-pharmacy; Amanda Madu '13, biochemistry; and Jessica Breslin '15, laboratory science, performed a east African-inspired dance, which is featured in a video with the Press Herald story.
Posted on: 05/02/2012
Maine Sunday Telegram features story on Saturday's Drug Take-Back Day
The Maine Sunday Telegram on April 29, 2012 featured a story on Saturday's Drug Take-Back Day and the UNE College of Pharmacy's research in connection with the state and national program.
UNE pharmacy students have been using the take-back effort to research the use of prescription drugs in Maine. Volunteers cataloged each pill in an effort to identify which medications are being over-prescribed or improperly used by patients and to improve patient outcomes.
In all, 130 University of New England pharmacy students, professors and volunteer pharmacists sifted through the piles of medications dropped off at the UNE Portland campus and several other locations during the fourth National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. The program, which has been taking place every six months, is organized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and local police departments.
College of Pharmacy students Colleen Szymczuk '15 and Lauren Spada '14 were interviewed for the story, and Sarah DeRaps '14, Lindsey Cashell '15 and Erika Newman '15 appeared in story photographs.
UNE's Coastal Healthy Community's Coalition was also a sponsor of the York County Drug Take-Back Day. The seven York County dropoff locations collected a total of 1,018 pounds of drugs.
Posted on: 04/30/2012
Media cover Drug Take Back Day
The Portland Press Herald, MPBN radio and the Sun Chronicle previewed Drug Take Back Day ,which will take place Saturday, April 28, 2012. UNE's College of Pharmacy and Coastal Health Communities Coalition are among the many partners involved in the state and national program.
The stories explain that in three past events, Maine collected more drugs per capita than any other state. The collection efforts have taken on special urgency in Maine, which has one of the nation's highest rates of addiction to prescription painkillers. Hundreds of Maine babies are born each year into opiate withdrawal, and more Mainers are killed by prescription drug overdoses than traffic accidents. William Paterson, substance abuse prevention project director at UNE's CHCC, was interviewed for the MPBN story. More information and times and locations
Posted on: 04/26/2012
UNE nursing Student Amy Miele in TV news video while working in Hawaii on Million Hearts campaign
UNE nursing student Amy Miele landed on TV April 25, 2012 while spending the week in Hawaii as part of an education team working with the Hawaii state Department of Health supporting the Million Hearts™ campaign. The program is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention project introduced last year to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes.
Miele, a senior in UNE’s RN-to-BSN completion program, is a master BP (blood pressure) trainer. Her involvement was funded in part by the Maine Centers for Disease Control. She is shown in a KITV News video featuring Hawaii's Million Hearts campaign.
Although they were not in Hawaii this week, UNE students Kaitlin Stolberg '12 and Sharon Staples '12 have also been educated as master BP trainers and have facilitated trainings across all health professions at the university and as well as to outside clinical partners.
High blood pressure is one of the leading risk factors of heart disease and stroke. In Hawaii, one in three adults has heart disease or has had a stroke.
According to the American Heart Association, accurate blood pressure measurement is an exacting process that requires careful attention and periodic retraining. All types of blood pressure equipment should be regularly inspected and calibrated.
Posted on: 04/26/2012
Media cover UNE's signing of agreements with two Spanish universities for study abroad opportunities
The Bangor Daily News, Boston Globe, Mainebiz, Portland Press Herald, Associated Press and several other online media outlets posted stories on UNE's announcement that it has signed an agreement with the University Pablo de Olavide in Seville that will allow UNE students to seamlessly complete a semester abroad in Spain with respect to both program curriculum and cost. In addition, UNE has signed a second agreement with the University of Granada in Spain to open future cooperative opportunities in graduate health sciences education.
The stories noted that UNE's agreement with the University Pablo de Olavide may be the first U.S. semester abroad program to establish lab-based science courses in English in a non-English speaking country. It will allow UNE students to take lab-based courses in organic chemistry, microbiology, and anatomy and physiology developed to meet the academic standards of UNE's biology, pre-health professions and undergraduate health professions programs.
The University Pablo de Olavide agreement was signed April 20, 2012 by UNE President Dr. Danielle Ripich and UPO President Dr. Juan Jiménez Martínez (photo). President Ripich and University of Granada President Francisco González Lodeiro signed a bilateral cooperation agreement April 23. More on the agreements.
Posted on: 04/25/2012
The Root and Plain Dealer report on David Smith's Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Nonfiction
The Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Root covered the announcement that David Livingstone Smith, Ph.D., UNE associate professor of philosophy, has been named winner of the 77th Annual Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Nonfiction for his 2011 book Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave, and Exterminate Others.
The award was announced by the Cleveland Foundation on April 19, 2012. The Anisfield-Wolf winners will be honored in Cleveland on Sept. 13 at a ceremony hosted by the Foundation and emceed by Jury Chair Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Research at Harvard University.
This year's jury also included poet Rita Dove, novelist and essayist Joyce Carol Oates, philosopher Steven Pinker, and historian Simon Schama. Previous winners of the award have included Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Toni Morrison.
Smith recently discussed Less Than Human on NPR's Talk of the Nation. He is also the author of Why We Lie: The Evolutionary Roots of Deception and the Unconscious Mind and The Most Dangerous Animal: Human Nature and the Origins of War. Read more.
Posted on: 04/24/2012
Cathy Plourde discusses Add Verb Productions' focus on domestic violence on WMPG Safe Place
On Wednesday, April 18, 2012, Cathy Plourde, director of of UNE's Add Verb Productions, appeared as a guest on the the WMPG show Safe Space. The interview, which is online, is part of the show' s current focus on domestic violence. Plourde talked about Add Verb's new play, "Major Medical Breakthrough."
"Major Medical Breakthrough" focuses on the role that all health care providers can play in preventing domestic violence.
Plourde tells the story of writing a play to inspire health care providers to screen their patients for domestic violence. She gave sobering statistics about the high numbers of women and some men, who are being abused who see their doctors during the abuse and are never asked about it. Indeed only 10-19 percent of doctors report that they screen their patients routinely for domestic violence. Plourde stressed that where there is domestic violence, there is also likely to be sexual assault, something that often goes unasked about. Listen to the half hour interview.
Add Verb was founded in 2000 with a mission of using theatre in health and wellness education, and is currently a program of the University of New England's Westbrook College of Health Professions.
Posted on: 04/24/2012
Bangor Daily News covers UNE training program to help health care practitioners spot scams against the elderly
The Bangor Daily News on April 19, 2012 covered an April 18th training workshop designed to assist health care professionals in identifying the red flags of financial elder abuse. The program was presented by the UNE Maine Geriatric Education Center and UNE Center for Community and Public Health, in partnership with the State of Maine Office of Securities.
The news story summarized the event, which used a nationally recognized continuing medical education program that offers preventative strategies to health care practitioners. The program was presented by Maine Securities Administrator Judith Shaw and Robert E. Roush, Ed.D., M.P.H., director of the Texas Consortium Geriatric Education Center at Baylor College of Medicine. Read the story.
Posted on: 04/24/2012
Maine Sunday Telegram features Art Gallery's show, 'Lullaby for Maine'
The Maine Sunday Telegram on April 22, 2012 published a feature story on the UNE Art Gallery's current exhibition "Rebecca Goodale, Lullaby for Maine."
Goodale, a Freeport artist, draws attention to Maine's endangered species through her artist books on display.
Bob Keyes of the Telegram writes: "The exhibition, aptly titled "Lullaby for Maine," features Goodale's handmade renderings of threatened and endangered insects, plants and animals. The exhibition is layered and detailed, and beautiful in brilliant ways. Despite the somber message imparted by the artist -- these natural things are vanishing at an alarming pace -- Goodale's artist's books pop with color and emote comfort."
The Telegram story includes a short video on Goodale's work. The exhibition is on display through June 16th.
Posted on: 04/23/2012
Brian Duff interviewed by Maine Sunday Telegram on presidential fundraising in Maine
Brian Duff, Ph.D., associate professor of political science, was interviewed by the Maine Sunday Telegram for a April 22, 2012 story on fundraising in Maine by President Obama and likely Republican challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Among Maine supporters President Obama has outraised Romney by more than 10 to 1. Maine has voted for a Democrat for the White House in the last five elections.
"In a kind of dispiriting way, Maine could have more impact in this presidential race in terms of the money Mainers cough up than in any political campaigning," Duff said. "There are fewer and fewer legitimate swing states, and the campaigns are getting better and better at focusing just on those states."
The story also ran in the Morning Sentinel and the Kennebec Journal.
Duff is the author of The Parent as Citizen: A Democratic Dilemma. He has also published research on feminist theory, voting, and the politics of race and ethnicity.
Posted on: 04/23/2012
