Following are selected examples of William and Mary faculty members whose scholarship and research have been placed in the local, national and international media.

Clinton's supporters will warm toward Obama
“At this point in time, people who are for Clinton are much more negative than they will be in November," Ron Rapoport, professor of government, said during an appearance on the PBS series The News Hour. “We've done surveys with activists, and what we find is that the more active you were for a losing candidate (in the primary), the more active you'll be for the winning candidate [in the general election. … Over time, people like the nominee more and more."
—Get News Hour story.

Life is short; get a degree
Benjamin Bolger, who is joining the William and Mary faculty as a visiting assistant professor of sociology, described himself to The Chronicle of Higher Education as "kind of an intense person. … I guess not kind of. I am an intense person."

Bolger, who has overcome dyslexia to earn 11 advanced degrees, reflected on his parents' disabilities after their car was struck by a drunken driver to explain his academic determination. "I saw life as being very short, and I wanted to make the most of it.”
—Get Chronicle of Higher Education story.

Bringing physics and theatre together
In trying to connect science and theater students, Rosa Alejandra Lukaszew developed a "physics and theatre" seminar, according to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education. “I thought a class like this might merge the two types of students and let them find out what they have in common," Lukaszew said.
—Get Chronicle of Higher Education story.

Trivial economic differences between Democrat contenders
As Democratic presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton took sides on a proposed "gas-tax holiday," Olivier Coibion, assistant professor of economics at the College, told the Virginian-Pilot that economic distinctions between the two were "pretty trivial." She said, "There are really few differences in terms of overall goals."
—Get Virginian-Pilot story.

Poor Mexican schools hamper U.S. immigrants
According to an article in USA Today, George Grayson, professor of government at William and Mary, believes that "the deficiencies of Mexico's schools could have serious consequences for  the United States" in that "poorly educated immigrants take longer to assimilate and lack the skills that U.S. companies need to compete."
—Get USA Today story.

Waterfront property: Eagles' needs vs. humans' wants
"Eagles need waterfront property. We [humans] want waterfront property," Byran Watts, director of the Center for Conservation Biology at the College, told the Washington Post for a story titled "Naval facility steps up efforts to protect eagles." In the same story, Libby Mojica, a research biologist with the College, added that the Chesapeake Bay region is important for the species. "It's supporting eagles all over the country," she said.
—Get Washington Post story.

Making meaning together
“Humans everywhere, [anthropologists] knoiw, make meaning together in song-laden sacred rituals, loud messy conflicts, or calm conversations,” Barbara King, professor of anthropology at the College, wrote in a book review for the London Times. “It is in creative, contingent, unpredictable and emotional meaning-making that our human nature lies.”
--Get London Times article.

Obrador’s world
“Lopez Obrador lives in his own world,” George Grayson, professor of government at the College, told the VOA News concerning the former Mexican presidential contendor’s reaction to an energy reform bill in the nation’s congress. “He (Obrador) is completely out of touch with the global economy … .”
—Get VOA news article.

U.S. as Rocky Balboa
“If the candidates want to be thought of as Rocky Balboa, they need to act more like him,” Deborah Hewitt, associate professor of economics and finance at the Mason School of Business at the College, wrote in an editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer.” Likewise, the United States cannot expect foreign countries to compete less vigorously because it is losing.”
--Get Philadelphia Inquirer commentary.

Sea level rise imperils Va. Beach
“Some of the highest elevations in Virginia Beach are only about plus 20 feet above mean sea level,” Carl Hershner of the College’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science told the Governor’s Commission on Climate Change, according to WVEC.COM. “So, as the sea level comes up a foot or two and the storm surge rises on top of that, there are significant parts of the city that are at significant risks.”
—Get WVEC.COM story.

Electro-positive shark defense
“Individual sandbar sharks would generally not approach the metal ingots claser than about 24 inches, nor attack pieces of cut bait suspended within approximately 12 inches,” Richard Brill, head of the Cooperative Marine Education and Research Program and the College’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science, told Science Daily concerning a study of electropositive alloys as a means of overloading the sensory systems of sharks. “This is a positive step,” he said.
—Get Science Daily article.

Second amendment's 'non sequitur'
The second amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees an individual the right to keep and bear arms, is problematic in that the right is often interpretted only as a collective right, according to William Van Alstyne. the Lee Professor of Law at the College, according to an article in the New York Times. “Perhaps no provision in the Constitution causes one to stumble quite so much on a first reading, or second, or third reading," Van Alstyne previously wrote, according to the story. "[There is] and apparent non sequitur—or disconnection of a sort—in midsentence."
—Get New York Times story.

Advising constitution drafters in Kosovo
Christie S. Warren, law professor at the College, recently traveled to Kosovo, where leaders sought her help in drafting a constitution. According to an Associated Press article, Warren stressed her role as an adviser. "These are critically important decisions that must be made by the people in the country and the people who are going to be impacted by that—not by international advisers," she said. "We don't go over there and write their constitution."
—Get AP story at WVEC.com.

Laughter as a measure of success
"If you think of any social relationship, shared laughter is one of the markers of success," John Morreall, professor of religious studies at the College, toldf the Seattle Times for an article about dating. "A person who tries to be funny and doesn't get a response from the other person, that's real failure."
—Get Seattle Times story.

The price of peace in Northern Ireland
Mitchell Reiss, vice provost for international affairs at the College, told the BBC News that he had "some pretty violent disagreements" with British officials over how much "pain to inflict" while attempting to get Sein Fein to deliver its side of the Good Friday Agreement in the Northern Ireland peace process. Reiss, who served as a U.S. special envoy to Ireland, "put down some red lines" of his own, according to the article, when he crossed Gerry Adams off the White House's St. Patrick's Day celebration in March 2005 and imposed a fundraising restriction on Sinn Fein visas.
—Get BBC story.

Bloomberg's exploratory moment
Amidst speculation that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg would announce his intention to mount a third-party bid for the presidency of the United States, Ron Rapoport, professor of government at the College, told the [New York] Daily News that the mayor's participation in a January bipartisan conference concerning Washington gridlock was "an exploratory moment. And it gets publicity, which keeps the agenda in front of the public."
—Get Daily News story.

Jockeying to lead Mexico's war on drugs
"I’ve heard politicians deny that the narcos are involved in elections, but it's what most people who follow Mexican politics believe is happening," George Grayson, professor of government at the College, told the Washington Post  regarding rumours that drug cartels repeatedly attempt to influence Mexican elections. Relative to the anti-drug aid package proposed by U.S. President George Bush that is known as the Merida Initiative, Grayson said, "There is a lot of jostling going on regarding who is going to be in charge of Mexico's so-called war on drugs. The Merida Initiative is like this big pinata. Different agencies are trying to position themselves to get fixed-wing airplanes and helicopters once it's struck."
—Get Washington Post story.

Positive urine sample not smart for Vick
A urine sample submitted by Michael Vick that tested positive for marijuana likely would be frowned upon by a judge, who would see it as a violation of conditions of probation for the disgraced Atlanta Falcons quarterback who was on probation for his role in a dogfighting scheme, Linda Malone, professor of law at the College, told ESPN sports writers. “Every judge considers pretty seriously if they feel that the defendant has flaunted the conditions for release," Malone said. "It's certainly not a smart thing to do.”
—Get ESPN story.

Invasion of Werowocomoco
“After AD 1200, [Werowocomoco] appears as a truly monumental place of periodic ceremony involving Natives from across the region," Martin Gallivan, assistant professor of anthropology, told the Washington Post. “By the early 1600s the Jamestown colonists not only forged a colony out of the wilderness but also invaded a homeland occupied for hundreds of generations."
—Get Washington Post story.