Halloween crept up on us like a good ol’ fashion jump scare. And now it’s gone just as suddenly, leaving us with Standard Time and another edition of Newsmakers.

Are manufacturers upset about how much AI is helping customers repair products? Can you eat sprouted potatoes? What can hotels really do about noise complaints? Why is Las Vegas affectionately known as the “Ninth Island”? And does a handshake truly make or break a job interview?

For a more comprehensive listing of the articles featuring UNLV experts, check out our frequently updated In The News page. But before then, here are some of the most prominent stories from September and October.

Welcome, President Heavey

After roughly 18 months in the interim role, Chris Heavey was appointed president of UNLV by the Board of Regents during a special meeting on Oct. 16. 

President Heavey brings more than three decades of experience at UNLV, and more than five years as executive vice president and provost and time as dean, vice provost, and professor. The appointment was covered widely locally, including stories in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Las Vegas Sun, KSNV: News 3, KVVU: Fox 5, and KLAS: Ch.8.

Health & Science

• National Geographic’s stories on walking pace and the benefits of walking backward featured family medicine physician Denice Ichinoe and kinesiologist Janet Dufek.
• Registered dietitian nutritionist Samantha Coogan spoke about the best food to lower cholesterol and how long uncooked rice lasts in Martha Stewart. She also appeared in a Verywell Health article about unexpected ways to use chia seeds.
• Consumer Affairs covered flu vaccine rates with infectious disease expert Brian Labus. He also answered questions about eating sprouted potatoes in Real Simple.
• Inc. interviewed psychologist James Hyman in an article covering the sensation of time flying by.

Culture & Technology

• CNN’s coverage of noise complaints in hotels featured insights from architecture professor Glenn Nowak.
• Associated Press covered the feats of Axel Rodríguez Olivas, a 20-year-old musician at UNLV, who will be among the first to graduate from UNLV with a minor in mariachi. UNLV is one of few universities nationally to offer the program
• Gaming historian David Schwartz shared the background of why Las Vegas is nicknamed the “Ninth Island” in a CNN article about the city’s attraction to Hawaiians. He also commented in a Fodor’s Travel piece about Strip landmarks lost to time.
• Fast Company spoke to law expert Leah Grinvald about AI’s influence on right-to-repair legislation.
• The Latin Times covered the impact of ICE-anxiety on Hispanic festivals and parades with knowledge from anthropologist Ivan Sandoval-Cervantes.
• Inc. consulted hospitality expert Cass Shum about the importance of the handshake in job interviews.
• LA Times (shared on Yahoo) covered a lawsuit against California hotels for using fragrances with tourism researcher Juliana Tkatch.
• Tourism researcher Marta Soligo talked about the interests of Gen Z travelers with Newsweek.

Politics & Economics

• Economist Mark Tremblay joined NBC News for a conversation about dynamic pricing making its way to event spaces such as StubHub.
• ABC News interviewed communications expert Craig Hennigan about what voters lose when politicians don’t debate.
• The New York Post spoke to law professor Kathryn Rand about a contentious lawsuit involving tribal casinos and a wagering giant.
• Political scientist Dave Damore spoke to CBC and the Associated Press about the midterms in Nevada.
• Bloomberg Law’s story on shareholder proposal rules featured law professor Ben Edwards.
• Fast Company’s story on the deterioration of rewards programs featured hospitality management expert Stowe Shoemaker.
• Hospitality expert Amanda Belarmino commented on the phenomenon of dynamic pricing in Forbes Japan.
• Historian Michael Green commented on Nevada’s aversion to “Californication” in the upcoming midterm elections with the LA Times.
• Taiwanese affairs expert Austin Wang discussed the AI race between the U.S. and China, along with digital disinformation campaigns with TaiwanPlus (also in HCN Times). He also analyzed elections happening in Taiwan with BBC and TWReporter.

Experts Roundup

• Aviation historian Dan Bubb lended his knowledge to a variety of airline-related news stories, such as the FAA using AI to reduce delays, the removal of chairs for TSA agents, the mandatory retirement age for pilots, air traffic controller hiring blitzes, and much more.
  
  Travel and Leisure, Fox News, HuffPost, The National News Desk, International Business Times, KSNV: News 3 (2; 3), Spectrum News, The Travel
• Hospitality law expert Bill Werner commented on strikes happening on the Strip in the Boston Globe.
• Fashion historian Deirdre Clemente commented on some vintage gym outfits in the Washington Post.
• BBC’s article about sleeping in more primitive times sought insights from anthropologist Alyssa Crittenden.
• Law professor Nancy Rapoport discussed the ethics of switching sides in litigation with Reuters.
• Historian John Haberstroh shared his approach to grading students in The Chronicle of Higher Education.