UMaine fisheries research was cited in an editorial in the Journal Tribune newspaper of Biddeford about rising levels of acidity in the world’s oceans, which is threatening the existence of some fish. The editorial noted UMaine research that showed commercial fishing off the coast of Maine supports 26,000 jobs and generates nearly a billion dollars a year.
Contact: George Manlove, (207) 581-3756
In an opinion piece in the Portland Press Herald, a public information officer for the Maine Department of Transportation defended the state’s response to the news that the Bridge-in-a-Backpack technology developed at UMaine had received a key approval from a national group of transportation officials. Responding to a column in Wednesday’s Press Herald, the officer wrote that the Maine DOT supports the research with funds to develop further improvements, including designing longer bridge spans and shapes, making them more marketable to all states.
Contact: Jessica Bloch, (207) 581-3777
The news that the Bridge-in-a-Backpack technology developed at UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center has won national approval from a group of transportation officials as the subject of a column in the Portland Press Herald. The column argued that the technology, which is a composite bridge that can be built faster, lighter and stronger than conventional concrete or steel bridges, deserves more attention from state government than it is getting. Brit Svoboda, a UMaine graduate to whose company UMaine licensed the technology, said Maine should be proud of what was created and developed at UMaine.
Contact: Jessica Bloch, (207) 581-3777
A column in the Bangor Daily News noted that former UMaine assistant men’s hockey coach has been inducted into the Manitoba Hall of Fame. Standbrook served as UMaine’s recruiting coordinator for 18 years, helping the Black Bears to two NCAA Championships and 11 Frozen Four appearances.
Contact: Jessica Bloch, (207) 581-3777
An op-ed in the Bangor Daily News by Amy Blackstone, chair of the UMaine Department of Sociology, about adults and couples who choose not to have children offers perspectives on those decisions. Blackstone said her research has shown that most so-called child-free adults in fact do like children and many maintain meaningful relationships that make positive differences in children’s lives.
Contact: George Manlove, (207) 581-3756
An opinion column in the Bangor Daily News by University of Maine professor of philosophy Michael Howard used analogies to characterize the needs and wants of the poor in the context of the economics principal of declining marginal utility. He discusses differences between items or experiences considered “pleasers” or “relievers,” and the balance based upon context of what an individual already has.
Contact: George Manlove, (207) 581-3756
A column by University of Maine journalism faculty member and Honors College preceptor Justin Martin about freedom of speech and of the press in countries with restricted democratic policies has been published on the Columbia Journalism Review website. Citing research by the Institute for Research on the International Economy, Martin wrote that countries that derive at least 40 percent of their revenue from the export of primary products such as oil also tend to have stymied democracies and limited freedom of the press. He mentions Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Qatar as primary examples.
Contact: George Manlove, (207) 581-3756
In a Columbia Journalism Review column, Justin Martin, a UMaine College of Liberal Arts and Sciences-Honors College preceptor of journalism, writes that news organizations often overstate the size of their foreign bureaus. Martin believes the use of the word bureau to describe a single correspondent in a particular city is meant to trick audiences into believing the news organization funds a sprawling newsroom in that location.
Contact: Jessica Bloch, (207) 581-3777
Justin Martin, a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences-Honors College preceptor of journalism, has a commentary on the Global Post website about the gas prices in the U.S. Martin argues journalists should reinforce the reality that our driving habits influence high prices, that our global neighbors pay a lot more than we do and that as a country we have to stop perpetuating the myth that we are entitled to low gas prices.
Contact: Jessica Bloch, (207) 581-3777
An opinion column by mathematician and UMaine associate professor of computer science Jonathan Farley about discrimination against black mathematicians was published in a recent edition of the Guardian newspaper in the U.K. In it, he responds to an essay in the Nation Review that implied intellectual differences between black and white people.
Farley cited several instances of academic and societal discrimination against black people that he argues illustrate why no black mathematician has ever won the prestigious Fields Medal for mathematic excellence.
Contact: George Manlove, (207) 581-3756
