David Davies, associate professor of biology, was featured in the December issue of Material Performance and Chemical Treatment News for his research in biofilms. Davies discovered a compound that makes biofilm colonies disperse and become more susceptible to antibiotics and immunities. He may have also solved a mystery in microbiology that biofilms will not grow in a flask. “Biofilms are a persistent problem in industrial process systems,” Davies said. “Effective treatment of these biofilms has required the administration of excessive amounts of biocides, often with unsatisfactory results. We feel that this discovery offers a genuine opportunity for enhanced treatment of biofilms.”
Solomon Polachek, distinguished professor in economics, was featured in The Region Focus for his applied human capital theory to gender gap in his 1974 paper, “Family Investments in Human Capital: Earnings of Women”. Co-authored by Jacob Mincer, Polachek and Mincer discuss work histories of men and women, and were among the first to discover that women’s incentives for investing in human capital are weaker than men’s because women expect child-related career interruptions. Polachek was quoted: “Our major contribution was probably to understand that the division of labor in the home is a fairly important concept. It’s a phenomenon which explains the differential patterns of married male and married female investments in future earnings power in the labor market, which in turn plays a very important role in explaining the male-female wage difference.”
Howard Wang, associate professor of mechanical engineering, and C.J. Zhong, director of graduate admissions and associate professor in chemistry, were featured in the December 1 issue of Medical News Today. Wang, vice president and chief scientific officer of NanoMas, developed nanotechnology that can be inked wallpaper computer screens or clothes that regulate body temperature. Zhong discovered nanoparticle-based sensor arrays that have the potential to monitor air for toxic chemicals or check diabetics’ sugar levels. Zhong is also working with colleague Susan Lu, assistant professor of systems science and industrial engineering, on the projects.
Matt Bassett, senior associate director of athletics, was named LeMoyne College’s third athletic director, according to the December 2 issue of The Post-Standard. Bassett has spent the past 20 years serving as a basketball coach and administrator at Binghamton University. He is also in charge of fundraising and the men and women’s basketball programs. Bassett raised more than $3 million for the Events Center and served as the America East Men’s Basketball Tournament director. Joel Thirer, athletic director, was quoted, “Matt has been a key member of my senior staff for the past eight years and has contributed to the advancement of our program in many ways.” Bassett was also featured in the December 3 issue of Times Union.
Elena I. Varlinskaya, research professor and corresponding author in a research study about adolescent binge drinking, was featured in the Genetics and Environmental Health Week, Genomics and Genetics Weekly, Genetics and Environmental Law Weekly and Genetics and Environmental Business Week in December. Varlinskaya and colleagues concluded: “A greater propensity of early adolescents to develop acute tolerance may contribute to their resistance to adverse effects of ethanol, thereby permitting heavy drinking at this age and placing early adolescents at higher risk for extensive alcohol use.” Her findings were reported in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
Rachael Silverstein was noted in the December 6 issue of The Buffalo News for an article aimed at high school students embarking on their college quest. Silverstein provided information about Binghamton University including class sizes, course selection, and food and social life options.
Arel Moodie, a Binghamton University alumnus and founder and owner of The Placefinder, a website which helps students find housing and roommates off-campus, was mentioned in the December 7 issue of USA Today for his contribution to the growing entrepreneur ventures in young people.
Lois B. DeFleur was featured in the December 8 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education in the article “A President as Pilot.” President DeFleur, an avid pilot who has logged more than 4,500 hours in the cockpit, prefers to fly herself around the state for business, rather than drive.
Andrew Morris, associate director of undergraduate admissions, was noted in the December 10 issue of Newsday in the article “Striving for that winning college essay.” The article discussed the importance of a college application essay. Morris says that the essay still remains the best source for certain information about the prospective student.
Karen Bromley, director of the division of education in the School of Education and Human Development, was featured in the December 10 issue of The Birmingham News in the article “Teaching penmanship survives in jots and dashes.” The article focused on the lack of penmanship training in many school districts across the country. “I think it’s going to be a lost art. It can be a beautiful way for people to express themselves,” Bromley said. This story also ran in the December 13 issue of the Montgomery Advertiser.
Joseph McCann, adjunct associate professor of psychology, was featured in the December 10 issue of Medical News Today for his book, Terrorism on American Soil, which argues that studying the history of terrorism in this country can lead to a better understanding of the topic as well as develop methods of coping with the issue. “Certain trends in terrorism repeat themselves. Some of the issues that were present a hundred years ago with anarchists are the same issues we’re struggling with today,” McCann said.
J. David Hacker, assistant professor of history, was featured on Huliq.com, an independent news organization website, in the December 13 article “Binghamton University Researcher to Study Declining U.S. Fertility Rates.” The study, with the help of a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, is aimed to find out why the total fertility rate, or the number of children a woman has in her lifetime, is so low. “It’s one of the most profound social revolutions of the period,” Hacker said. This story was also featured in the December 15 issue of The Science Coalition.
Brian Altomare, alumnus and president of MadPackers, a college moving service, has teamed up with Binghamton University’s Entrepreneurship Program at the School of Management with Angelo Mastrangelo, adjunct lecturer and administrator of the program, according to the December 13 press release on Yahoo! Finance.
Anne Clark, associate professor in biological sciences, was noted in the Berkeley Daily Planet December 19 article “Crow Talk and Chickadee Alarms: What Birds Are Saying.” Clark was one of four biologists who demonstrated that the calls of individual crows have distinct acoustic qualities that can distinguish them from one another.
The Binghamton University Center for Advanced Microelectronics Manufacturing (CAMM) was noted in the December 20 issues of Global SMT & Packaging, Fabtech, and SYS-Con Media for its close relationship with the U.S. Display Consortium, who has launched an initiative focused on manufacturing low cost electronic products, including RFID tags, sensors, energy (solar cell panels, solid-state lighting, flexible batteries), electro-clothing, architectural and disposable electronics.
Binghamton University biologists were credited in the December 21 issue of Regina Leader-Post of Canada for their research on laughter. Studies found that there are two types of laugher: “stimulus-driven laughter,” laughter in response to something humorous or because other people are laughing, and “self-generated and strategic” laughter.
Binghamton University scientists, lead by David Sloan Wilson, distinguished professor of biology and anthropology, measured the amount of holiday spirit throughout the Binghamton area as a research project, according to eMaxHealth and PhysOrg’s December 21 issues. Wilson is the director of the Binghamton Neighborhood Project, which studies and seeks to improve the quality of life in Binghamton. Wilson said, “We have already created GIS maps measuring the quality of neighborhoods based on survey data. Holiday decorations represent a natural expression of community spirit that we can correlate with the survey data.” The studies were also published in Southwest Nebraska News on December 21.
According to the Post-Standard on December 22, Binghamton University’s anthropology department was asked to aid in the identification of skeletal remains found in Chenango County, believed to be missing resident Edward Hatton, 67. The news was also featured on Channel 3 WCAX-TV Vermont’s Own.
Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine named Binghamton University 5th best value among the nation’s top 100 public universities, as noted in the December 28 issues of Durham Herald Sun of North Carolina and Online Athens in Georgia.
Researchers from Binghamton University published their findings on schizophrenic and schizotypic psychopathology in the December 28 issue of Medical Imaging Law Weekly and Biotech Business Week. Mark Lenzenweger, professor of psychology, and colleagues also published their studies on eye movement and schizotypy in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
