Students pass by Lied Library as they walk campus on the first day of Fall 2024 semester classes

UNLV Newsmakers 2024: August

A collection of news highlights featuring students and faculty.

Fall semester classes resumed on Aug. 26, 2024, marking the largest enrollment recorded in UNLV history. (Becca Schwartz/UNLV)

UNLV marked multiple milestones in August. 

The latest phase of the university’s Rebel Recovery initiative was led by the reopening of Beam Hall, eight months after a tragic shooting that claimed the lives of three beloved faculty members. Refusing to be deterred, students forged ahead in the pursuit of their dreams — spurring UNLV to welcome its largest enrollment in campus history this fall.

The university introduced a slew of new program and course offerings, including a new mariachi focus and a teacher apprenticeship initiative. Faculty researchers made headlines for their work in the areas of health, environment, and space. And university experts from all corners of campus helped lend context to world events ranging from the election and the economy to gaming law, the internet, and food culture.

Read on for just a few of UNLV’s August media mentions.

Back to School

As Beam Hall reopened to the public for the first time since the Dec. 6 shooting tragedy, UNLV President Keith E. Whitfield and campus leaders spoke to media outlets about UNLV’s investment of over $2 million on enhanced security measures campuswide. Whitfield also shared his vision for the academic year ahead, as well as details about the Rebel Ready Week orientation program for incoming students and the university’s record-breaking enrollment of 32,000 students: 

​​Associated Press (via Nevada Independent), Las Vegas Sun (twice)(thrice), Las Vegas Review-Journal, KTNV: ABC 13 (twice), KLAS: 8 News Now (twice), KVVU: Fox 5 (twice)(thrice), KSNV: News 3 (twice)

The Las Vegas Review-Journal, Nevada Independent, and KLAS: 8 News Now highlighted the College of Education’s newly reconfigured Nevada Forward Initiative, an apprenticeship program aimed at shoring up the teacher shortage.

And KLAS: 8 News Now covered the launch of the School of Music’s new mariachi program.

Potatoes Aplenty

A new study from nutritionist Neda Akhavan shows that baked and roasted potatoes — and particularly the skins — are packed with health-boosting nutrients that can help people with Type 2 diabetes maintain healthy blood sugar levels and lose weight. Hundreds of outlets around the globe picked up the news, including:

Fox News, Woman’s World, Science Magazine, Medical News Today, Earth.com, StudyFinds, WION, Yumda, Nutrition Insight, Wales Online, Mirror, The Hindustan Times 

Cannabis & Casinos

UNLV's Cannabis Policy Institute (CPI) teamed with the International Gaming Institute (IGI) to host “Cannabis & Gaming,” a panel discussion moderated by CPI director Riana Durrett and IGI executive director Brett Abarbanel. Business professor Marla Royne Stafford and adjunct law professor Jennifer Roberts were among the speakers who led conversation on topics surrounding policy and research. 

Casinos.com (twice), MSN, KVVU: Fox 5, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Las Vegas Sun, Nevada Independent

Health & Science

  • Infectious disease expert Brian Labus went over the symptoms of "long COVID" with Parade and Wired. He talked to Parents Magazine about Oropouche virus, also known as "sloth fever," as well as to Yahoo! News about pizza’s expiration date. His comments to the Daily Mail about the spread of the UK’s deadly Mpox strain were picked up by multiple international outlets, including The Mirror and Daily Express. Labus additionally appeared in a Travel + Leisure story about the grossest object in a hotel room.
  • IBM and The Bond Buyer interviewed architecture professor Steffen Lehmann about the urban heat island effect. Meanwhile, the New York Times covered the health consequences of the resulting warmer nights, and Vegas PBS also asked Lehmann about Southern Nevada’s preparedness to face the future heatwaves infrastructure-wise.
  • Sports psychologist Brad Donohue shared mental health strategies that both Olympians and everyday people can use in an article from Well+Good. He also chatted with Healthline about the benefits of moderate exercise even a couple of days per week. 
  • Space.com featured new research by astrophysicists Stephen Lepp and Rebecca Martin, which explored exoplanets and their various moons.
  • Medical entomologist and go-to mosquito expert Louisa Messenger talked about the best mosquito repellents with Everyday Health.
  • Public health professor Chad L. Cross told Sleepopolis all about bed bugs and how to get rid of them.
  • Discover Magazine (twice) described what weather is like on the moon and our neighboring planets with the help of astrophysicist Jason Steffen.
  • Hydrogeologist David Kreamer appeared in Science.org’s story about a uranium mine near the south rim of the Grand Canyon that threatens the local water supply.

Culture

  • Social media expert Benjamin Morse translated the meaning of the teen slang term "yeet" for TODAY.
  • A New York Times essay on the passing of author Francine Pascal and the influence of her young adult novels cited research by psychologist and former UNLV president Marta Meana.
  • The Washington Post wrote about several unsuspecting foods that pack a nutritional punch with the help of registered dietitian Samantha Coogan.
  • Asian American studies expert Constancio Arnaldo explained the growth of Las Vegas’ Chinatown districts in the Los Angeles Times and South China Morning Post.

Politics

  • NPR (via KNPR), KLAS: 8 News Now (twice), KSNV: News 3, NewsNation, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal asked law expert Francine Lipman about the practicality of presidential candidates’ "no taxes on tips" proposals in Nevada.
  • NPR also tapped political scientist David Damore for a piece on swing states’ significance in presidential races, while the Christian Science Monitor, KNPR, and Vegas PBS interviewed him about campaign issues to watch. He discussed the Affordable Care Act’s future with GoBankingRates and the local housing crisis with the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
  • The Wall Street Journal chatted with law expert Nancy B. Rapoport about legal strategy in Delta’s hiring of a big-name attorney. Bloomberg also consulted her expertise for a piece on a judge’s ethics scandal.  
  • The Guardian interviewed political scientist Rebecca Gill regarding ways Democrats could win over Latino voters in Nevada. She also discussed the presidential race with Radio Free Europe, and candidates’ student loan forgiveness policies with Forbes (twice).
  • Railroad engineering professor Harry Teng explained what it would take to develop a high-speed train between Los Angeles and Las Vegas in Travel Weekly and The Cool Down.
  • Immigration law expert Michael Kagan outlined ICE bureaucracy in coverage from Newsweek.

Experts Roundup

  • The Nevada Department of Public Safety’s wellness program manager has partnered with UNLV’s Tourist Safety Institute at the Greenspun College of Urban Affairs to create a new resiliency training program designed for the highway patrol officers: Las Vegas Sun 
  • How is Gap doing such a great job of capturing Gen Z customers? Fashion historian Deirdre Clemente helped Glossy explain. And her essay for The Conversation on presidential and VP candidates’ fashion choices was picked up by multiple outlets, including Yahoo! and Fast Company.
  • Politico’s E&E News, The Hill, Earth.com, and Manufacturing Business Technology were among outlets that covered political scientist Benjamin Farrer’s study on energy companies pressuring homeowners into fracking.
  • Forbes highlighted a study co-led by accounting professor Scott Jackson, which found that gender stereotypes explain why female CEOs are targeted by shareholder activists and why they tend to cooperate.
  • Two UNLV Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine OBGYN doctors were in the news: Professor Nadia Gomez spoke to KVVU: Fox 5 about her new study analyzing social media misinformation about birth control. And professor Rebecca Lee was featured in a KNPR discussion about the poor state of women’s health care in Nevada. 
  • Historian Michael Green commented on the potential consequences ahead for Resorts World, following accusations of illegal gambling, in a piece from the Associated Press.
  • Business professor Stephen Miller helped Investment Week understand the economic impact of early-life financial decisions on mid- to late-life debt. He also talked to the Las Vegas Review-Journal about recession fears, and to The Nevadan about the potential impact of mass deportations on the Silver State’s economy.
  • The Wager Danger podcast invited International Gaming Institute (IGI) research director Kasra Ghaharian on for an episode on AI’s influence on gambling. 
  • IGI executive director Brett Abarbanel offered context on the emerging sports betting influencer industry to Front Office Sports.

Topics:

newsmakers

Campus Units:

Office of the President,  College of Education,  College of Fine Arts,  School of Music,  School of Integrated Health Sciences,  Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences,  Cannabis Policy Institute at UNLV,  International Gaming Institute,  Lee Business School,  Department of Marketing and International Business,  William S. Boyd School of Law,  School of Public Health,  Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics,  School of Architecture,  College of Liberal Arts,  Department of Psychology,  College of Sciences,  Department of Physics and Astronomy,  Department of Environmental and Global Health,  Department of Geoscience,  Greenspun College of Urban Affairs,  Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies,  Department of Interdisciplinary, Gender, and Ethnic Studies,  Department of Political Science,  Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering,  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction,  Department of History,  Department of Accounting,  Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV,  UNLV Health Gynecology & Obstetrics Clinic,  Department of Economics,  Center for Business and Economic Research

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