Comments by UC Davis community members regularly appear in a wide variety of media outlets around the country. Among the recent citings in prominent publications:

Associate anesthesiology professor Scott Fishman was the primary source for a March 9 National Public Radio report on back pain. Fishman, chief of the medical center's Division of Pain Medicine, said most people tend to either push themselves too hard when experiencing back pain, or not move at all. He said the key is to "engage in modest, persistent activity. That may mean just walking a little bit every hour while you're having a back-pain episode, just making sure you're not sitting in a chair or lying down for long periods of time."…

Two days earlier, NPR interviewed Wildlife Health Center director Walter Boyce about the role of migratory birds in the spread of avian influenza. "It's very clear that wild birds are involved in the movement of this strain of H5N1," Boyce said. "Whether they are primarily responsible for outbreaks, I think, remains to be seen. There's clearly a strong link. And I think it's an open question whether they are the victim or the messenger."…

During a March 1 guest spot on Minnesota's public radio station, poultry expert Carol Cardona of veterinary medicine said consumer panic that has led to plummeting fowl demand will eventually abate. "Consumers are going to adapt to a new state of the world and a world that is going to have to live with bird flu for some period of time before it can be eradicated," she said. …

Sacramento Area Science Project director Arthur Beauchamp appeared on PBS' March 9 NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, in a discussion about keeping U.S. high school students competitive. One part of the equation is a push to turn out more math and science teachers. University students headed in that direction can get a leg up with help from the Sacramento Area Science Project, a part of UC Davis' Cooperative Research and Extension Services for Schools. The project assists students in completing some of their teacher credential requirements as undergraduates. "If they can get out of here and be really close to having that teacher credential and then be making money that year, it's a big difference than going to an additional year of school when you are not making money," Beauchamp said. …

Research chemist Cesar Fraga of the nutrition department was quoted in a Feb. 28 Associated Press story about a study showing the benefits of chocolate. Dutch researchers found that older men who ate one-third of a chocolate bar per day had lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of death. "This is a very important article providing epidemiological support for what many researchers have been observing in experimental models," Fraga said. …

Associate political science professor Gabriella Montinola was quoted in a March 7 USA Today story about Philippine elections. Montinola said celebrities and political dynasties have the advantage in elections, because electoral rules discourage political parties. "These electoral rules make name-recognition critical to winning elections," she said. …

The San Francisco Chronicle turned to computer science professor Norman Matloff for comment in a Feb. 24 article on the trend toward sending tech jobs overseas. The article centered on a report that concluded that the practice had "had a smaller impact on U.S. workers than was widely expected, but that the practice of offshoring will grow in the years to come, posing new risks and challenges." Critics suggested that the study's optimism was meant to boost sagging computer science enrollment at universities. "The deans and the department chairs are absolutely panicked because enrollment is plummeting," said Matloff, whom the Chronicle described as "a well-known critic of visa worker programs and offshoring in the technology industry." …

In a Feb. 26 Los Angeles Times article, Melissa Bain of the Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital commented on how well pets handle construction. Bain, a faculty member in the Companion Animal Behavior Program, said construction around the home disrupts some pets more than others. "If you're doing a heavy-duty, weeklong project, you may want to just board your pet, though some get more stressed in that environment than at home," she said. …

Division of Social Sciences Dean Steven Sheffrin was quoted in a March 5 Associated Press story about tax dishonesty. Sheffrin said a "whistleblower type of sentiment" is emerging among taxpayers who are now much more willing to turn in neighbors for cheating on taxes than in the past. "It does seem that there's a sense of increased social responsibility that's emerging there," he said.