UAlbany in the News

by Lisa James Goldsberry (April 8, 2004)

� The March 8 edition of The Boston Globe featured information about Albany Nanotech. �Nanotech Being Seen as Next Big Thing: States, Colleges Jockey for Research Dollars� discussed how a few years ago every state wanted a �silicon� of some sort and today everyone wants �nano.� According to the article, New York has spent more than $200 million to transform UAlbany into a nanotech research center and attract companies, such as International Sematech, the semiconductor industry research consortium, to Albany. Nanotech initiatives have been launched in at least 25 states. �Companies are likely to concentrate in established technology centers, which offer not only research capacity, but also entrepreneurial networks, venture capital, and professional support services that turn research into commercial products,� according to an author of a Brookings Institution study who was quoted in the piece.

� The March 12 issue of The New York Times featured quotes by Nadieszda Kizenko, a professor in the Department of History. �Heading Home After 55 Years in America: Russian Icon Stopping in New York for Three Days of Veneration,� focused on the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Tikhvin and its journey back to Russia. Beyond its long history, church officials and scholars see the icon as a potent symbol of Russian national feeling and the resurgence of the Russian Orthodox church after the fall of communism. �They�re not just pious things. These are icons that are connected with wars and victories,� Kizenko was quoted as saying.

� A March 21 story sent on the United Press International wire featured information on research done by Benjamin Shaw of the School of Public Health. �Parents Can Affect Child�s Future Health� focused on a new analysis done by Shaw and his colleagues from the University of Michigan. They investigated whether the health effects of parental support during childhood persist throughout adulthood into old age. They found a connection between lack of parental support during childhood and increased levels of depression, hypertension, arthritis, and other chronic health problems. The study of 2,905 men and women, ages 25 to 74, was reported in the March issue of Psychology and Aging. Stories on the study also appeared in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Palm Beach Post, and several other news outlets.

� The April 2004 issue of Psychology Today magazine featured quotes by Scott South of Sociology. �The New Trophy Wife� discussed how alpha women are highly sought-after partners in business and in marriage. It mentioned South�s research examining the characteristics most desirable to black and white men, ages 19 to 35, in which he found that a woman�s ability to hold a steady job mattered more than her age, previous marriages, maternal status, religion, or race. Men were more willing to marry women with more, rather than less, education than they themselves had.