Today's News Weekend Edition: Monday, August 13, 2012
Research
Research says sport drinks just as bad as soda
More children and teenagers are drinking sports drinks like Gatorade and Powerade, instead of soda. While that may sound like a good thing, new research from the University of Minnesota shows in most cases it’s not a better option.
WCCO
Watch: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/08/10/research-says-sports-drinks-just-as-bad-as-soda/
Northland mosquitos carry fatal disease
Vince Nelson placed a net full of mosquitos into a cooler, closed the lid and checked off on his clipboard exactly where they came from. It was one of dozens of batches of bugs he has collected in the north woods this summer and packed off to a University of Minnesota laboratory. ...A multitude of state, tribal and federal agencies and the University have joined forces to see if they can find out whether [Eastern equine encephalitis virus or EEEV] may be part of the region’s steep decline in moose population over the past decade – a decline so rapid that some experts predict Minnesota may lose all of its moose within 50 years.
Duluth News Tribune
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/239851/
Clinic taps patients' own stem cells to ease their pain
Dr. Joel Baumgartner readily admits that it may be years before any insurance company pays for this treatment. ...Baumgartner, 39, is one of a small but growing number of doctors who are offering stem cell therapy for common medical conditions -- even though experts say such treatments have yet to be proven safe and effective. ...In other parts of the country, some clinics are offering stem cells as "anti-aging" therapies, or for serious diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease, said Leigh Turner, a medical ethicist at the University of Minnesota who is tracking the trend.
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/165868916.html?refer=y
Robots to spend winter under the ice in Lake Superior
Researchers are sending robots where no scientist has gone before: under the ice in Lake Superior during winter. Last week, researchers from the University of Minnesota-Duluth put their first robot in Lake Superior to test it.
Michigan Radio
http://michiganradio.org/post/robots-spend-winter-under-ice-lake-superior
Popcorn's butter flavoring may trigger Alzheimer's disease
If you're a fan of butter-flavored microwave popcorn, a new study finds a flavoring used in the product may trigger Alzheimer's disease. University of Minnesota drug-design expert Robert Vince, PhD, and colleagues found that diacetyl causes brain proteins to misfold into the Alzheimer's-linked form called beta amyloid.
New York Daily News
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/popcorn-butter-flavoring-trigger-alzheimer-disease-article-1.1135225?localLinksEnabled=false
Schools see a tech revolution, but will students see results?
St. Paul schools Superintendent Valeria Silva has glimpsed the "future of education": a reimagined school district where students can learn 24/7 and set their own pace in the classroom. ...Aaron Doering, a professor of learning technologies at the University of Minnesota, has studied the effects of bringing technology into the classroom. In the hands of a skilled and trained educator, tech can be powerful, he said.
Pioneer Press
http://www.twincities.com/stpaul/ci_21279163/st-paul-schools-tech-revolution-would-be-expensive
Natural foes take on soybean aphid, but aphids may be taking on potatoes
For over a decade, soybean aphids have invaded soybean fields in the upper Midwest. ...When asked by farmers about soybean aphids, Ian MacRae, University of Minnesota Extension entomologist in Crookston, shared some of the research conducted at the University of Minnesota by George Heimpel, University of Minnesota entomologist, and others.
Minnesota Farm Guide
http://www.minnesotafarmguide.com/news/crop/natural-foes-take-on-soybean-aphid-but-aphids-may-be/article_b87b5698-e037-11e1-a496-001a4bcf887a.html
'Scarcity' of women leads to costlier dates, engagement rings
Research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology shows that sex ratios, or the percentage of men and women, have a larger effect on our decisions than we think, including a finding that men may pay more for a date or engagement ring when there are fewer women around. ...The lead author is Vlad Griskevicius, marketing and psychology professor at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.
ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/08/scarcity-of-women-leads-to-costlier-dates-engagement-rings/
'White power' rock sends message of hate
Christian Picciolini joined the white-power skinhead movement in 1987, when he was just 14 years old. With his friends, he started one of the first white-power hate bands in the country, White American Youth. Research has shown that hate music influences the way listeners treat the minority groups targeted in the songs. In a study by Heather LaMarre, an assistant professor of journalism and mass communication at the University of Minnesota, people who weren't white supremacists who were exposed to hate music at low volume for as little as seven minutes treated minority groups differently from the way they did before they listened to it.
Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/10/2945028/white-power-rock-sends-message.html
Business and Politics
Coverage of Paul Ryan selection as Mitt Romney running mate
This past Saturday, presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney selected Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan as his running mate. Several University of Minnesota experts have been quoted in media coverage before and after Saturday's announcement.
National Review Online: 'Bryan Dowd on Wyden-Ryan' includes quotes from Bryan Dowd, professor of health policy and management
http://www.nationalreview.com/agenda/313767/bryan-dowd-wyden-ryan-reihan-salam
MPR: 'How will Paul Ryan play in Minnesota?' includes quotes from Larry Jacobs, professor of political science
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/polinaut/archive/2012/08/how_will_paul_r.shtml
MPR: 'Pawlenty's future might lie in Romney Cabinet or 2014 Senate race' includes quotes from Jacobs
Listen: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/08/12/politics/pawlenty-folo/
WCCO: 'Wisconsin reacts to Ryan's nomination' includes quotes from Jacobs
Watch: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/08/11/wisconsin-reacts-to-ryans-nomination/
WCCO: 'Campaign trail starts today for Romney, Ryan' includes quotes from Jacobs
Watch: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/08/13/campaign-trial-starts-today-for-romney-ryan/
Allentown Morning Call: 'Paul Ryan's Medicare plan' includes quotes from Stephen Parente, professor of health finance
http://articles.mcall.com/2012-08-12/news/mc-paul-ryan-medicare-plan-20120812_1_premium-support-paul-ryan-medicare
KARE: 'Romney passes over Pawlenty, picks Wis. Rep. for running mate' includes quotes from Kathryn Pearson, professor of political science
Watch: http://www.kare11.com/news/article/986532/396/Romney-passes-over-Pawlenty-picks-Wis-Rep-for-running-mate
KARE: 'Pawlenty says excited by Romney-Ryan ticket' includes quotes from Pearson
http://www.kare11.com/news/article/986486/14/Pawlenty-says-excited-by-Romney-Ryan-ticket-
KSTP: 'Political expert talks Paul Ryan' includes quotes from Pearson
Watch: http://kstp.com/article/stories/S2724922.shtml?cat=12337&v=1
WCCO: '2012 latest: Romney picks Ryan, Obama's standings' includes quotes from Pearson
Watch: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/video/7604902-2012-latest-romney-picks-ryan-obamas-standings/
tpt: 'Almanac - The Political Scientist Panel' features Jacobs and Pearson
Watch: http://www.tpt.org/?a=almanac
What to watch for in the 8th District primary race
As Democrats in the 8th District head to the polls this week, there’s a feeling that any of the three DFLers on the ballot could walk away a winner. ...“The changes in the last decade or two have made it almost a different district,” University of Minnesota history professor Hy Berman said.
MinnPost
http://www.minnpost.com/dc-dispatches/2012/08/what-watch-8th-district-primary-race
Drought is likely to drive up prices, send corn forecast to 17-year low
A withering national drought will likely push corn yields to a 17-year low, the government said Friday in a report that amplifies the likelihood of higher prices for livestock farmers, food manufacturers and ultimately consumers. ..."This drought is the real deal," said Ed Usset, a grain marketing specialist at the University of Minnesota's Center for Farm Financial Management.
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/local/165811166.html?refer=y
People and Lifestyle
Bikers get a helping hand
Anthony Carton is getting a lot of attention these days, and with his help, soon so might people on bicycles, scooters and motorcycles. Carton, a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, created a glove outfitted with sensors that translate hand turn signals into lighted directional indicators.
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/165756066.html?refer=y
Olympic Games inch closer toward gender equity
Forty years ago, when the United States enacted Title IX, the landmark gender-equity legislation, just one of seven athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics was a woman. Today, 44 percent of the athletes in London are women, roughly 5,000 out of a total of around 11,000. ...“There is a direct correlation between Title IX and the success of women, not just U.S. women but all women, at the Olympics,” said Mary Jo Kane, a professor of sport sociology at the University of Minnesota and an expert on Title IX.
The Globe and Mail
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/sports/olympics/olympic-games-inch-closer-toward-gender-equity/article4475752/?service=mobile
Commentary and Opinion
Are new raft of fairy tale films and TV shows fair to their female characters?
Fairy tales have been with us long before the Grimm Brothers published their book “Children's and Household Tales” 200 years ago. But a new twist in the genre has emerged on TV and in theaters that demeans female characters, says an expert on fairy tale literature and film - Dr. Jack Zipes, a retired University of Minnesota professor and author of more than a dozen books.
FOX News
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/08/13/are-new-raft-fairy-tale-films-and-tv-shows-fair-to-their-female-characters/