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Volume 60, Number 19    January 22, 2013         

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Newsmakers

International buzz
Professor of Biology Gretchen LeBuhn's United Nations-sponsored study that identifies a method to monitor global bee populations was the subject of a Jan. 16, 2013 New York Times Green Blog. "The U.N. thought that the problem might be tied to a decline in bee populations, I was hired to see if it would be feasible to monitor this decline," LeBuhn said. "Wow, I thought. The most common bumblebee in San Francisco disappeared, and none of us noticed, not even me, a biologist. That really got my attention."
The study found that counting and identifying bees regularly for five years at about 200 locations would produce data accurate enough to detect two to five percent annual declines in bee populations.

Too soon to tell
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Studies Alex Gerould commented on rising crime rates in San Jose for a Dec. 31, 2012 article in the San Jose Mercury News. "San Jose is still an incredibly safe big city. There's been a doubling (of homicides) in two years, which looks extremely startling. But look back into the 1990s, taking into factor the population, we're still down from where we've been," Gerould said. "We had two bad years, but whether that's going to give way to a long-term trend, I don't know."

Rough, no tumble
KGO Radio interviewed Whirlwind Wheelchair Chief Engineer Ralf Hotchkiss for a Dec. 26, 2012 report about the rugged RoughRider wheelchairs, which are now for sale in the United States. "It has fat, mountain bike tires on the rear and an extremely wide -- over three inch wide -- front tire. I used to fall two-to-three times out of American chairs a year; in the 10 years since I've had a longer wheelbase, I have yet to get it to fall (even) once forward," Hotchkiss said. Whirlwind Wheelchair is part of SF State's Institute for Civic and Community Engagement (ICCE).

Staying safe
Campus Emergency Coordinator Gayle Orr-Smith discussed steps to take in the event of an active shooter event in a Wall Street Journal video presented on Technorati.com, Dec. 22, 2012. "If you can determine that the sounds of the gunfire or activity is in the opposite direction or far enough away that you feel you can get to a safer place, then do that," Orr-Smith said. "If you're out in a public area, like a mall, go into a store away from where you hear the sounds of shooting and hide… If you find yourself cornered in a building… you should turn off the lights, turn off your cell phone so it doesn't ring."

 

For more media coverage of faculty, staff, students, alumni and programs, see SF State in the News.


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Last modified January 17, 2013 by University Communications.