Expert Alert
September 2006

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Minnesotans love the maroon and gold of fall
Sept. 29 , 2006

Thank goodness that the last season before Minnesota’s less than comfortable winter is such a beautiful one. From Lake Superior’s shore to the state’s southern border, fall’s foliage puts on a vivid display of colors. But we often take for granted nature’s complex and necessary process of seasonal change and adaptation. A University of Minnesota expert who can give a scientific perspective on the changing of colors is:

Florence Gleason, University of Minnesota plant biology professor
Gleason can discuss the chemical processes that leaves and other vegetation go through during all seasons and what we are actually seeing outdoors this autumn. She reminds us that the change in color is not just for show, but a vital need in Mother Nature.

To interview Gleason, contact Drew Swain at (612) 625-8962 or dswain@umn.edu; or Asim Dorovic at (612) 624-0214 or dorovic@umn.edu.

One coup in Bangkok with a U of M professor
Sept. 21 , 2006

Martial law has been declared, political meetings are forbidden and foreign news networks are now removed from national television - Thailand is experiencing a military coup. Early Wednesday morning, amid no reports of violence, the southeast Asian country’s military chief announced a government take over. Now tanks and troops are quietly patrolling the capitol city, awaiting a round of elections to fill vacant positions. This is one of dozens of coups in Thailand since the end of World War II and the first since 1991. A University of Minnesota expert who has an intimate view of the situation and is available to comment is:

Gerald Fry, University of Minnesota professor of education policy and administration
Recently returned from Thailand for a World Bank meeting, professor Fry can discuss the current state of the country. He personally knows the prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed during the coup. For the past several years Fry has traveled extensively throughout southern Asia as an advocate for education reform.

To interview Fry, contact Drew Swain at (612) 625-8962 or dswain@umn.edu; or Asim Dorovic at (612) 624-0214 or dorovic@umn.edu.

Twins playoff race and the math of “magic numbers”
Sept. 20 , 2006

It is the last few weeks of Major League Baseball’s regular season, and eager Minnesota Twins fans are pulling out their pad and pencils to calculate the team’s “magic number” - how many more wins the team will need to clinch a playoff spot. After a monumental late season comeback, the Twins find themselves in the race to catch the Detroit Tigers for the Central Division title, or hold off long-time foe, the Chicago White Sox, for the Wild Card spot; either win will assure post-season play, but with a division title comes home field advantage. What math is behind the “magic numbers” that will determine where the Twins fall? A University of Minnesota expert who can comment on “magic numbers” is:

Lawrence Gray, University of Minnesota math professor
Gray can discuss the math that goes into “magic numbers” at the end of every baseball season and where the Twins currently stand. A Twins fan himself, Gray can also go into depth on the elimination numbers that he hopes the Tigers or White Sox will soon reach. In the classroom, his teaching focuses on probability theory.

To interview Gray, contact Asim Dorovic at (612) 624-0214 or dorovic@umn.edu; or Drew Swain at (612) 625-8962 or dswain@umn.edu.

9/11: five year anniversary
Sept. 8 , 2006

Monday marks five years since that Tuesday morning in 2001 when the United States was fully and brutally introduced to home-front terrorism. The tragedy still lingers in the minds of many Americans who witnessed the planes crash, whether in person on the streets of New York or even thousands of miles away in front of the television. Almost 3,000 people were killed that day: husbands, wives, fathers, mothers and children. How have these families who lost loved ones searched for hope and closure these past five years? Few times in American history has the country been so horrifically shocked on its own soil, tightly united in common defense, and then slowly and sharply polarized. Our foreign involvement has drastically increased, and we now live in a society with “orange” and “yellow” levels of security alertness.

Colin Kahl, assistant professor in political science at the University of Minnesota
Kahl teaches courses in international relations, international security, American foreign policy, civil and ethnic conflict, and terrorism. He has recently completed a Council on Foreign Relations Fellowship at the Department of Defense in Washington, D.C., where he has worked on a variety of “War on Terrorism” issues. Kahl currently teaches a class at the U called “War on Terrorism and American Foreign Policy,” and has recently returned from a week in Baghdad, where he did research for the Department of Defense.Kahl can comment on a variety of issues, including:
• The origins and U.S. response to 9/11
• The evolution of the terrorist threat since 9/11
• Current U.S. policies related to the War on Terrorism
• U.S strategy, policy, and military conduct in Iraq
• Application of the Geneva Conventions and other aspects of the Law of War in Iraq and the broader War on TerrorismKahl is returning from Washington on Monday and will be available from noon to 3 p.m. During the weekend, he will be available for phone interviews.

Pauline Boss, professor of family social science at the University of Minnesota
Shortly after the attacks, Boss worked with family members of 9/11 victims and has continued to help them in the following years. She can speak about what she has learned from them and how she has worked on “resilience and new hopes rather than the pain of it all.” She discusses these themes in her new book, “Loss, Trauma and Resilience.” She is also coordinator of the post-9/11 Minnesota-New York Project.

To interview Kahl or Boss, contact Drew Swain at (612) 625-8962 or dswain@umn.edu; or Asim Dorovic at (612) 624-0214 or dorovic@umn.edu.

Controversy surrounds ABC’s scheduled Sunday/Monday airing of “The Path to 9/11”
Sept. 7 , 2006

ABC’s plans to air the two-part miniseries The Path to 9/11 beginning Sunday evening is generating a lot of controversy. The miniseries is based on interviews and documents including the report by the Sept. 11 commission. ABC says the miniseries is not a documentary but a dramatization. Clinton administration officials say that the five-hour movie is riddled with factual errors and fabrications. University of Minnesota experts who can discuss the controversy are:

Professor Mary Vavrus, U of M communication studies professor
Vavrus is an expert in the area of media studies, with particular emphasis on the political economy of the media and women in the media. She is author of Postfeminist News and an expert on critical media literacy. Vavrus says that The Path to 9/11 “highlights ABC's political bias, something that poses special problems during this run-up to the November mid-term elections.”

Professor Edward Schiappa, U of M communication studies professor and chair of the communication studies department
Schiappa is author of Defining Reality and teaches courses in freedom of speech and media studies. He says “the contradiction of Disney (who owns ABC) being unwilling to distribute Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 because it was controversial yet showing The Path to 9/11 without commercials is large.” “The airing of Path after CBS pulled their show about the Reagans due to complaints certainly challenges the myth of 'liberal media'.”

Professor Gil Rodman, U of M communication studies professor
Rodman teaches media and cultural studies. His areas of expertise are critical media studies, cultural studies, popular culture, communication technologies and Politics of Race and Ethnicity. Rodman says “Path demonstrates very odd priorities on ABC's part: the $40 million that the network spent to make a piece of "entertainment" (one that won't have commercial sponsors) could have been used to fund an awful lot of serious investigative journalism instead.”

To interview any of the professors, contact Patty Mattern at (612) 624-2801; or Asim Dorovic at (612) 624-0214 or dorovic@umn.edu.