Notable & Quotable

Juliana Cohen,assistant professor of health sciences, was featured in a cnn.com article“How school lunches measure up in countries around the world”published April 9, 2018. “When kids eat healthier foods, this can have a really important impact on their cognitive functioning, which can then translate potentially to better academic performance,” she said.Cohen’s 2015 study,published in theJournal of the Academy of the Nutrition and Dietetics, was also featured. Her study found shorter lunch periods to be linked with less healthy eating among children.

The Winston School of Education and Social Policy’sDr. Elaine Ward was recently invited to speak (virtually) to a coalition of universities in Australia on her experiences as one of the co-PIs leading an international pilot of the U.S. Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement in Ireland. Twelve Irish universities participated in the project and Dr. Ward presented on the challenges and benefits of using a U.S.-centric framework to assess civic and community engagement in another country.

The Imagined Immigration and the Criminal Immigrants: Expanding the Catalog of Immigrant-Related Ignorance is an article published by Dr. Daniel Herda and co-authored by Merrimack alum Amshula Divadkar ’17. In the article, Herda and Divadkar use original data from a sample of college students to examine the crime perception alongside nine established components of imagined immigration, comparing their extent and consequences for a hypothetical anti-immigrant policy.

Mary McHugh, executive director of civic & community engagement, presented at an APSA round table on Essential Topics for Introductory American Politics Courses and presented a co-authored paper “Connecting Students across Borders in Interdisciplinary Service Learning.” This paper is based on the International Service Learning Network Symposium that was held online this past spring. Five Merrimack students participated in the symposium and worked with students from the United States and the United Kingdom.

Father Raymond Dlugos,O.S.A., vice president for mission and student affairs, delivered a lecture, “Feeding the Beast Who Is Feeding on You,” April 5, 2017, at St. Augustine Church in Andover, Massachusetts. Father Dlugos urged the young people in the audience to resist “the beast,” which he defined as the culture of instant gratification that pervades society today. “The beast wants us to spend money,” he said. “If you’re sad, buy something.” (Photo by Tim Jean/The Andover Townsman)

Krista McQueeney, associate professor of education, was quoted in a May 3, 2017, Eagle-Tribune story about parents’ and educators’ concerns arising from the Netflix series “13 Reasons Why,” whichfeatures the graphic depiction of a teenager’s suicide. Though sheis uneasy about such scenes being viewed by teens, McQueeney said they can have a positive impact if discussed openly. “What I find effective is when school systems give parents and guardians talking points to initiate conversations with young people about these difficult issues,” she said. “This can be especially helpful for parents who didn’t grow up in today’s digital society and/or may be uncomfortable navigating conversations about sensitive topics.”

VPA Instructor Cristi Catt’s music group Telltale Crossing has released its debut album Door Ajar on all major music streaming platforms.

Rodrigo Bandeira de Mello, associate professor of strategy in the Girard School of Business, was interviewed in Folha De S. Paulo, the largest national newspaper in Brazil. Professor Bandiera de Mello’s interviewwas about the engagement of businesspeople in politics.

April Bowling, assistant professor of health sciences, was quoted in a Jan. 9, 2017, story in MedPage Today about the behavioral benefits of aerobicexercise for children with behavioral healthdisorders. “The big takeaway from this study is that kids with these types of (behavioral) challenges may not need a lot of aerobic exercise to see big improvements in classroom behavior,” Bowling said. “But it is really important to find modes of exercise that appeal to them, and work within the existing structures of school.”

Mary McHugh,adjunct lecturer inpolitical science and director of the Stevens Service Learning Center, was quoted in an Oct. 20, 2017, Daily News of Newburyport, Massachusetts, story about the war chest Gov. Charlie Baker has amassed for a possiblereelection bid in 2018. “It’s hard to beat an incumbent,” she said. “Especially a popular one like Charlie Baker.”

Lauri Kurdziel, assistant professor of psychology, was recently quoted in the Boston Globe on the topic of naps and bedtime sleep for preschoolers. Kurdziel conducted research with two others entitled “Sleep-dependent enhancement of emotional memory in early childhood” which was published in Scientific Reports.

William Wians, professor of philosophy, delivered the opening keynote address at the 2018 Fonte Aretusa conference in Siracusa, Sicily, on June 6. His topic was ‘Violence and the Origins of Beauty’. Prof. Wians discussedthree figures closely associated with the Greek city of Syracusa on Sicily: Aeschylus, whose play “Prometheus Bound” was produced in the city’s outdoor theater around 405 BC; the poem of Empedocles, who was born in nearby Acragas; and the philosopher Plato, who spent 13 years in Siracusa in a failed attempt to produce a philosopher king out of the local ruler Dionysius the Second.

Ana Silva, associate professor of finance and chair of the accounting and finance department, was quoted in a WalletHub.com “Ask the Experts” column about secured credit cards. Asked how the issuer of a secured credit card with no annual fee makes money, Silva responded, “Issuers charge high APRs on the unpaid balances each month. Late fees are also charged when a customer misses a payment. Some issuers charge a fee for setting-up an account. Issuers also charge the interchange fee on every credit card transaction. In addition, some banks cross-sell other products such as insurances.”

Melissa Zimdars, assistant professor of communication, was interviewed by the grassroots media website Weave News for thefourthpartof its “Attack on Academia“series with academics who have endured sustained campaigns of threats and harassment from the alt-right. Zimdars made national headlineswhen a document she created to help her students practice analyzing the credibility of various websites claiming to share news went viral and incurred the wrath of far-right organizations and individuals.

Assistant professor of art/art history,Jonathan Latiano, MFA, gave a talk, “Time as a Muse,” at theBroto 2020 Conference, held virtually this year. Broto: Art-Climate-Science, is a unique conference of international experts focused on substantive, mutual, credible and real-time art-science collaboration that inspires innovation to address the climate crisis.

Brittnie Aiello and Emma Duffy-Comparone have published “I Never Thought I Could Accomplish Something Like This: The Success and Struggle of Teaching College Courses in Jail” in theJournal of Prison Education and Reentry. The article discusses their work teaching Merrimack College courses at the Essex County Correctional Facility.

Melissa Zimdars, assistant professor of communication, was quoted in a May 16, 2017, post by technology blogger Richard Hartley about new measures taken by Facebook to root out “fake news.” Zimdars, who has gained national attention for creating a list of untrustworthy news sites, said it seemed Facebook was largely responding to bad press. “My initial read on it is it’s ultimately kind of a PR move. It’s cheap to do. It’s easy. It doesn’t actually require them to do anything,” she said.

Ellen Longsworth, art history professor at Merrimack, has been elected president of the Society for Renaissance Art History.

Associate Professor Joseph Stasio was featured in WalletHub’s piece about Credit Card promotions. Stasio teaches in the marketing department at Merrimack’s Girard School of Business.

Director of Campus Music Activities Hugh Hinton is the winner of the 2021 Choir Master Prize in choral conducting. This award is given each year to the person who earns the top score in the National Choir Master certification examination.