Experts Available

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University at Buffalo faculty experts are available comment on the following current events: the stress faced by Chilean miners, the controversy over the Ground Zero mosque, the recent change to optical scan voting technology in New York State and the prevention of credit card debt among college students. The thoughts of a handful of UB faculty members are summarized below. For more information or to search the university’s Newstips blog, go to http://newstips.buffalo.edu/.

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Kellie Kostek is the University at Buffalo’s answer to the growing problem of student debt. Kostek is UB’s financial literacy program coordinator. Her objective is to reach as many students as possible to teach the benefits of fiscal responsibility.

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Five years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, James N. Jensen, PhD, University at Buffalo professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering, says that probably the biggest lesson learned from that disaster was that municipalities and citizens now take orders to evacuate much more seriously.

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The story about a flight attendant intervening when a stressed mother slapped her 14-month daughter while on a Southwest Airlines flight obviously will trigger public debate about whether parents should ever slap their children, says Barbara Rittner, an associate dean in the University at Buffalo School of Work and expert on child welfare risk assessment.

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This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in 2009, no state had met a target of reducing obesity prevalence among adults to 15 percent. Why is obesity so prevalent in America? And what can we do to combat the problem? Teresa Quattrin, MD, offers her expert opinion.

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A University at Buffalo expert on DUI offenders and recidivism is available to comment on Lindsay Lohan's treatment.

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Given the controversy and the fact the U.S. government is a party challenging the law, it makes sense that a federal court would put the Arizona immigration law on hold so the legal and constitutional questions can be discussed and pondered in a measured way, according to Rick Su, an expert on immigration law and local government at the University at Buffalo Law School.

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A key element in winning elections is successfully identifying citizens for targeted campaign communications. This is an example of what Abraham Lincoln used to speak of as his ideal "“ it is still referred to as "Lincoln's perfect list," says University at Buffalo political scientist Joshua Dyck, Ph.D.

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A food security expert at the University at Buffalo says the worldwide food crisis is a direct result of the choices made by policy makers and the lack of attention paid to the food system and its relationship to global warming and fossil fuels.

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University at Buffalo political science professor James E. Campbell has studied presidential campaigns for more than three decades and says this year's race for party nominations is the "most peculiar" he can remember.