Comments by UC Davis community members frequently appear in media outlets around the country. Among the recent citings in prominent publications:

African American and African studies professor Jacob Olupona speculated on the next pope in several newspapers during the past few weeks, including the Houston Chronicle, The Sacramento Bee, St. Louis Post Dispatch and Cleveland Plain Dealer. Olupona said in the April 16 Bee that Africa would be profoundly impacted if Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze would have been chosen for the papacy. "Having a pope from an African country could have the same effect John Paul had on the people of Poland," he said. "It could create a renaissance and make social changes." …

Olupona also contributed to an April 25 San Francisco Chronicle story about Catholicism's growth in Africa. Olupona, who specializes in religion, noted that Catholicism is spreading more quickly through Africa than on any other continent. "Africa is where the center of Christianity is moving," he said. Olupona went on to predict that the continent will eventually produce a pope. "There's going to be a time where there will be a very dynamic African cardinal who is young at heart who shares the persona of Pope John Paul II, who will get in."…

Mechanical and aeronautical engineering professor Andrew Frank was quoted in the Chronicle the previous day in a story on the benefits of the new "plug-in" hybrid vehicle. Plug-in hybrids, when charged the night before, allow drivers to use only electricity for the first 10 or 20 miles of their journey, instead of a combination of an electric motor and gas power. Frank, director of the Hybrid Vehicle Center at UC Davis, said that with the new type of vehicle, "we'd go to the gas station about five times a year, as opposed to 35 times a year with a conventional car."…

Physics professor Tony Tyson commented on a recent observation that gravitational force can magnify light from distant quasars in the April 26 New York Times. A multinational team lead by University of Pittsburgh researchers discovered that quasars appear brighter in telescopes than they actually are, confirming a prediction of general relativity that Albert Einstein made 100 years ago. "It is nice to close the loop on Einstein here," Tyson said. "This all traces back to Einstein's prediction of light bending." Tyson heads a group that is planning to build a telescope and camera that would measure the bending of light from distant galaxies. ...

Evolution and ecology professor Art Shapiro was a principle source for another New York Times story, an April 16 piece on the massive Painted Lady butterfly migration through California. "While they have a stash of fat, they don't have to stop to feed," Shapiro said of the butterflies' movement. "They migrate single-mindedly until they run out of fat or into your car." … Shapiro also contributed to a San Jose Mercury News piece on April 22 documenting declining butterfly populations in California. Shapiro, a butterfly expert, has observed drop-offs in many species' numbers of late. "It's a little scary," he said of the struggling populations. "The question is, Why? Is it a whole bunch of species declining for individual reasons, or is some broader phenomenon affecting them all?"…

Director of the Wildlife Health Center Walter Boyce was quoted in an April 19 Riverside Press-Enterprise story on a recent mountain lion sighting. Boyce, a lion expert, said the animals are less vicious than they're made out to be. "People should be aware, but not necessarily frightened," he said. "Lions usually avoid people, and attacks are rare occurrences."…

Nutrition professor Judith Stern contributed to a story about rising obesity in the April 18 Sacramento Bee. Stern said the fight against weight gain is not as clear-cut as with tobacco. "You don't have to smoke, but you have to eat," she said. 'And eating is pleasurable."

Medical student Sa Vang was quoted in the April 25 edition of Newsweek in a story about the cultural boundary that can separate American doctors and immigrant patients. Vang, whose parents are immigrants, says that many patients don't want to offend their doctors, but still do not trust them. "Hmong will smile and nod when they're with the doctor, but they have no intention of taking the pills," she said. "Patients think the doctors don't know what they're doing." — By Mike Sintetos