Today's News: Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Broadcast News
University of Minnesota Researches In-Utero Stroke Treatment
Strokes are normally a condition associated with the elderly, but they can happen to in children -- even the unborn. Now, researchers at the University of Minnesota say a new treatment called neuroplasticity could help lessen injury to the brain after a stroke.
KMSP-TV
To watch: http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/health/university-o
f-minnesota-researches-in-utero-stroke-treatment-feb-14-2012
Great challenges await U of M's next athletic director
Retiring University of Minnesota Athletics Director Joel Maturi will leave this June with a record of accomplishments: higher athlete grade point averages, a narrower budget deficit, and a wide array of small sports.
Minnesota Public Radio
To listen: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/
web/2012/02/15/great-challenges-athletic-director/
For and against the gay marriage amendment
Maggie Gallagher of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy and Dale Carpenter of the University of Minnesota Law School debate gay marriage at a University of St. Thomas forum at the Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law and Public Policy.
Minnesota Public Radio
To listen: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/02/14/midday1/
Dr. Jon Hallberg: Your heart does more than love
On this day when the heart is featured in a starring role, MPR medical analyst Dr. Jon Hallberg and MPR's Tom Crann discussed how the vital organ works and whether there's any truth to the idea that a person can die of a broken heart. Hallberg is a physician in family medicine at the University of Minnesota and director of the Mill City Clinic.
Minnesota Public Radio
To listen: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/02/14/hallberg-heart/
Why California Almonds Need North Dakota Flowers (And A Few Billion Bees)
This is one of those stories that reminds us that everything really is connected to everything else. Here's the web of connections: a threat to California's booming almond business; hard times for honeybees in North Dakota; and high corn prices… Beekeepers are telling Euliss that they're worried, that these changes are bad for bees. And Euliss, together with a group of other scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Minnesota, is trying to measure the impact of those changes.
National Public Radio
To listen: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/02/14/146872577/why-ca
lifornia-almonds-need-north-dakota-flowers-and-a-few-billion-bees
MN Innovation Alive and Well - And Helping the Poor
Programs from across the state which are improving their communities with a bit of ingenuity are being honored today by Minnesota Community Action Partnership… Programs being honored for best practices were judged by a panel at the University of Minnesota. Associate professor Catherine Solheim says the university gets involved to see what's happening at the grassroots level.
Public News Service
To listen: http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/24863-1
U Faculty, Staff or Students in the News
Screening by Primary-Care Doctors May Spot Dementia
Routine screening at primary care clinics led to a two- to threefold increase in diagnoses of brain-function impairments such as dementia in older veterans, researchers say… "Our study demonstrates that proactive strategies such as routine screening are well-accepted and effective in diagnosing cognitive impairment, and that primary care providers value the diagnostic and management services involved," noted study leader Dr. J. Riley McCarten, of the Minneapolis VA Health Care System and the University of Minnesota, in a journal news release.
U.S. News and World Report
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012
/02/13/screening-by-primary-care-doctors-may-spot-dementia
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/wellness/139194024.html
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
http://health.heraldtribune.com/2012/02/13/should-your-brain
-get-a-regular-checkup-at-70-and-beyond-veterans-study-says-yes/
How secure are labs handling world's deadliest pathogens?
To reach his office in Galveston National Laboratory, where scientists study deadly pathogens such as the Ebola and Marburg viruses, director James Le Duc swipes his key card at the building's single entrance, which is guarded 24/7 by Texas state police… "An escape would still produce the worst pandemic in history," said Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota and a member of the NSABB, at a symposium at the New York Academy of Sciences this month.
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/15/us-hea
lth-biosecurity-idUSTRE81E0R420120215
International Business Times
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/299150/20120215
/deadliest-pathogens-lab-security-bird-flu-research.htm
Kaler Gives Keynote Speech at 'Bank Day at the Capitol'
University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler will give the keynote speech at “Bank Day at the Capitol” today.
KSTP
http://kstp.com/article/stories/S2496046.shtml
Take Two: Andover High may have record number of twins
Travis Oines blinked twice, thinking he was seeing double. But at Andover High School, where there are 28 sets of twins, everybody does double takes… "But 28 sets of twins at any school is remarkable," said Dr. Nancy Segal, the former assistant director for twin and adoption research at the University of Minnesota.
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/local/north/139334408.html
How Obama administration got St. Paul to pull landlord suit out of Supreme Court
To maintain St. Paul's neighborhoods, the city stepped up its housing enforcement and targeted landlords with a history of violations… "A lot of people thought that the Supreme Court was taking this case to take 'disparate impact' out, to say that it wasn't implied under the federal Fair Housing Act statute or to say that it was unconstitutional," said Myron Orfield, Director of the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota Law School.
Pioneer Press
http://www.twincities.com/stpaul/ci_19958064
Stuck in the middle with U
Tommy Sager has a 16-hour-a-week work-study job. He brings in two annual scholarships — $400 from J.P. Morgan and $600 from the University of Minnesota. Still, when he graduates in 2014, he’ll be $16,000 in debt. And that’s less than average for students at the University.
Twin Cities Daily Planet
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2012/02/14/stuck-middle-u
NBA Players Scoff at Mathematical Model Suggesting When to Shoot
With 16.6 seconds left in overtime and his Los Angeles Lakers up by one, Kobe Bryant had to decide, in an instant, whether to take the shot or drain a little more time from the clock and deny the Boston Celtics a chance to score… Brian Skinner, a physics research associate at the University of Minnesota, explored the nature of the late-game shot attempt in the NBA.
Wired
http://www.wired.com/playbook/2012/02/brian-skinner-nba-study/
Sviggum: Taxpayer-funded brochures falls on his shoulders, Gimse says he was unaware flier had donation link
Sen. Joe Gimse, of Willmar, was one of 15 Minnesota Republican senators who requested that taxpayer-funded brochures be made available for him to distribute at last week’s precinct caucuses… For Sviggum, the literature problem added to another ethics issue he faces as a University of Minnesota regent.
West Central Tribune
http://www.wctrib.com/event/article/id/89977/
Drug Delivery Hooked On Sugar
In an advance for drug delivery, researchers have demonstrated that they can slip large biological molecules inside cells by tagging them with small molecules called boronates… Boronates represent “an exciting new paradigm for the targeted delivery of drugs, nucleic acids, or proteins,” says Theresa Reineke of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
Chemical and Engineering News
http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/web/2012/02/Drug-Delivery-Hooked-Sugar.html
Articles of Interest - Metro and State
St. Paul's TKDA buying SJA Architects of Duluth
St. Paul-based engineering firm TKDA said Tuesday it intends to buy SJA Architects in Duluth, Minn… SJA has led several high-profile Duluth projects, including Amsoil Arena and the new buildings for civil engineering and science at the University of Minnesota-Duluth campus.
Pioneer Press
http://www.twincities.com/business/ci_19961934
Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal
http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/blog/real_es
tate/2012/02/tkda-buying-duluth-design-firm.html
Lack of snow fuels February fires in Northland
High temperatures and the lack of snow across the Northland this winter have created the perfect combination to spark wildfires months earlier than usual… The bad news is that the University of Minnesota is suggesting crop insurance to cover drought damage.
Duluth News Tribune
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/222936/
Columns, Commentary, Opinions and Blogs
Minnesota high-school students taking Adderall to boost academic performance
In the same way that some athletes have taken steroids to become stronger, some Minnesota high-school students are taking unprescribed Adderall to perform better in the classroom and on exams… This article was produced in partnership with students at the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and funded in part with a grant from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.
MinnPost
http://www.minnpost.com/education/2012/02/minnesota-h
igh-school-students-taking-adderall-boost-academic-performance
Minnesota's planting season is downright optimistic
Below-average rainfall from August through December last year, and not much snow so far this year, has some farmers and gardeners worried about drought. Don’t worry, says Thomas Hoverstad, a scientist with the University of Minnesota’s Southern Research and Outreach Center in Waseca.
MinnPost
http://www.minnpost.com/region/2012/02/minnesotas-planting-season-downright-optimistic
Mixed progress made by US government and schools to improve food marketing influencing children's diets
New research has found that the US government and schools have made mixed progress to comprehensively address food and beverage marketing practices that put young people's health at risk… Kraak and colleagues Mary Story, PhD, RD, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and Ellen A. Wartella, PhD, Northwestern University School of Communication, conducted a comprehensive literature review of the evidence to determine what progress had been made toward 5 of the report's recommendations for the public sector.
Medical Xpress
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-schools-food-children-diets.html
News Medical
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20120215/IOM-recommendations-
for-healthful-diet-to-children-and-adolescents-not-fully-implemented.aspx
President Obama's Medicare cuts don't cut it
The president took an extra week to develop his budget, but the extra time was apparently not enough to yield Medicare policies that could produce real savings… The authors—Roger Feldman of the University of Minnesota, Robert Coulam of Simmons College, and Bryan Dowd of the University of Minnesota—estimate that competitive bidding that includes all Medicare plans could save $339 billion over a decade.
The Hill
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/healthcare/2
10411-president-obamas-medicare-cuts-dont-cut-it
Integration task force forwarding results to Cassellius
Just when you thought hardly anyone in the state Legislature could spell compromise, much less produce one, a panel of deeply divided ideological and philosophical foes goes into a windowless subbasement chamber and forges a policy prescription pretty much all are pleased with… The recommendations carry the endorsement of such presumed opponents as University of Minnesota law professor Myron Orfield, a relentless integration advocate, and Lakeville School Board member Bob Erickson, a fiscal conservative. '
MinnPost
http://www.minnpost.com/learning-curve/2012/02/integra
tion-task-force-forwarding-results-cassellius
TC Jewfolk: TC blogger finds 'Pretty Good Reasons' to oppose marriage amendment
When the Minnesota legislature placed the proposed state constitutional amendment to limit civil marriage to heterosexual couples on the November general election ballot, many Minnesotans were outraged. Jeff Zuckerman, an editor and teacher at Walden University and the University of Minnesota, decided it was time to act. He began talking to his friends, colleagues, and the members of his shul about the idea of establishing a forum to articulate rational reasons why the amendment would be bad for Minnesota, even though the ballot initiative was 18 months away.
MinnPost
http://www.minnpost.com/minnesota-blog-cabin/2012/02/tc-jewfolk-
tc-blogger-finds-pretty-good-reasons-oppose-marriage-amendme
School Lunch Guidelines: Preschooler Told Homemade Turkey Sandwich Not Nutritious Enough, Given Nuggets Instead
A preschool student at West Hoke Elementary School in North Carolina ended up eating three chicken nuggets for lunch two weeks ago -- because a state inspector declared that the 4-year-old's lunch wasn't nutritious enough… Researchers from the University of Minnesota found that elementary school students chose and ate more carrots and green beans when their lunch trays prompted them with pictures of those vegetables in their respective tray compartments.
Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/15/school-lunch-guidelines-p_n_1278803.html
U.S. litigation against Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. may not be imminent; but it's still all bad news for him
News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch is all lawyered up and bound for London tomorrow on a crisis management mission… "Knowing the tendency of prosecutors to take high-profile cases, I think they might spend some time on it," said Richard Painter, a former chief ethics lawyer in the second Bush White House who has worked on FCPA cases and teaches law at the University of Minnesota.
Capital
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2012/02/5267941/us
-litigation-against-rupert-murdochs-news-corp-may-not-be-imminent-it
Current News Releases and Multimedia
U of M Moment: Do you remember those New Year's resolutions?
http://www1.umn.edu/news/multimedia/2012/UR_CONTENT_371304.html