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Health is Wealth

Gun Deaths

• Mary Blankenship, a Brookings Mountain West graduate researcher who studies the nexus of public policy and internet misinformation/disinformation, sifted through over 1.3 million tweets to examine how Twitter users’ emotions and reactions to recent mass shootings varied and converged based on political affiliation:
  City Cast Las Vegas, Newsy, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Pahrump Valley Times, KLAS-TV: 8 News Now, KSNV-TV: News 3, Greater Good Magazine
• Deborah Kuhls, a trauma surgeon who serves as the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine’s assistant dean of research, was among a group of clinicians from states affected by mass shootings who published recommendations for an effective healthcare response to future incidents: Healthcare Finance News, American College of Surgeons, Las Vegas Review-Journal, KVVU-TV: Fox 5
• Frank Rudy Cooper, a William S. Boyd School Law professor who serves as director of UNLV’s Program on Race, Gender & Policing, commented on the dip in Las Vegas police shootings: Las Vegas Sun

Climate Crisis

• Paleoclimatologist and geoscience department chair Matthew Lachniet added context to  Good Morning America, ABC News, Fox News, and Yahoo! pieces about the record-low water levels at Lake Mead. He also spoke to ABC News about the heat wave hitting cities around the globe and to KRDO-TV about the Colorado River crisis.
• Communication studies professor Emma Frances Bloomfield helped explain how readers of The Good Men Project can parse tough climate conversations.
• In an essay for the Nevada Independent, William S. Boyd School of Law senior fellow and adjunct professor Frank Fritz wrote about the ways building performance standards can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help us save water, energy, and money.
• Architecture professor and sustainability expert Steffen Lehmann similarly touted the potential positive impact of solar power and changes to construction materials and blueprints on the Silver State’s climate crisis during a KNPR panel discussion.
• Amid the discovery of a third body at Lake Mead, history professor Michael Green spoke to The Guardian and Patch; gaming historian David G. Schwartz chimed in on Casino.org; and forensic anthropologist Jennifer Byrnes was quoted by National Geographic En Español, Business Insider, and Yahoo!. 

Social Justice News

• Renowned architect Paul Revere Williams’ achievements transformed the landscape of Nevada but were obscured by racism, the New York Times reported. UNLV Oral History Research Center director Claytee D. White weighed in.
• Asian and Asian American Studies professor Constancio Arnaldo spoke to Slate about the impact of race on figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi’s legacy, and about the history of Asians in sports with The Good Men Project.
• Why is the model minority stereotype harmful to Asian Americans? Psychology professor Gloria Wong-Padoongpatt weighed in via Verywell Mind.
• Mother Jones featured UNLV Immigration Clinic director Michael Kagan’s insights on ways former President Donald J. Trump’s border policy and the U.S. Supreme Court impacted immigrants.
• African American and African Diaspora Studies professor Tyler D. Parry was interviewed by HITC and MadameNoire about the wedding tradition of jumping the broom.
• USA Today highlighted School of Public Health professor Courtney Coughenour’s research on the role of racism in pedestrian deaths.

University Business

• Flashlight sculptor Claes Oldenburg died at age 93: Washington Post, KLAS-TV: 8 News Now, Las Vegas Review-Journal 
• A class on the lawyering process and legal writing pushed Boyd Law up in national rankings: Vegas Inc.
• Two College of Sciences professors have received grants. Yahoo! reported on life sciences professor Kelly Tseng partnering with a company for tissue regeneration research. The National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy awarded physicist Qiang Zhu a $1.3 million grant to jumpstart his efforts to accelerate new materials discovery, per ASM International.
• The Las Vegas Sun highlighted one UNLV program that’s helping athletes hone their mental health to take performance to the next level.
• Students chimed in on UNLV’s diversity for a Las Vegas Sun report on a new initiative to collaborate with other Hispanic-serving research institutions on upping Latinx enrollment and faculty.
• Student Heather Renner became the first openly gay pageant contestant to be crowned Miss Nevada: KOLO-TV, Reno Gazette-Journal, Elko Daily Free Press
• Higher Ed Dive checked in on UNLV’s development and retention efforts amid the Great Resignation.

General Roundup

• Psychology professor and gender researcher Rachael D. Robnett spoke to the New York Times about actress/singer Jennifer Lopez assuming husband Ben Affleck’s last name. The story was picked up by dozens of international outlets, including Vanity Fair, Cosmopolitan, MSN Italy, HuffPost, and Donna Glamour.
• The Washington Post quoted David Orentlicher, director of UNLV’s Health Law Program, in a story about prison inmates and organ donation.
• Comments by Mark Lenker, a professor and university librarian who has written about political outrage, were featured in The Hill, and the story was picked up by outlets including Yahoo! and NewsNation.
• Forbes sought Couple and Family Therapy professor Brandon Eddy’s insights on selecting the right professional and treatment options. Meanwhile, HuffPost and Yahoo! cited his research on postpartum depression in new dads.
• Is Sin City sex positive? ​​Greenspun College of Urban Affairs professor Rebecca Bosetti talked to City Cast Las Vegas about her new course, “Sexual Behavior & Society: The Good, the Bad, and the Controversial,” and why Las Vegas needs more sex-positive social workers.
• Mugglehead Magazine reported on the recent launch of psychology professors Rochelle and Dustin Hines’ new company dedicated to advancing psychedelic therapies. The neuroscientists were also quoted by High Times and Healthline (twice) about the impact of psilocybin and other psychedelics on mental health, and by Las Vegas Weekly for a story on state cannabis board requirements surrounding DUIs and pot lounges. 
• Astrophysicist Jason Steffen’s airplane boarding method was featured on CNN (twice) and he additionally provided the Las Vegas Sun with commentary on new images from the James Webb Telescope.
• MoneyGeek published an interview with economist Makayla Lavender on finding inexpensive health insurance premiums.
• Dozens of outlets picked up a KVVU-TV: Fox 5 story featuring Sports Research and Innovation Institute co-director and Title IX expert Nancy Lough’s thoughts on the significance of the Las Vegas Raiders hiring the first Black woman team president in NFL history.
• Social media researcher Mary Blankenship’s examination of disinformation surrounding the Russia invasion of Ukraine and the related dissemination of propaganda in Africa was featured in Forbes and The Statesman.