Top Stories:

• Assistant Professor and Chair of Economics Alan Green, PhD, was quoted in The Daytona Beach News-Journal article, “AAA: Iranian unrest means higher gas prices in Volusia, Flagler,” published on Jan. 7. “The biggest thing now is there’s more uncertainty,” Green said. “There’s more risk being priced into the market and that’s realistic. The expectation is that Iran will retaliate; it’s just a matter of where and when.”

• Assistant Professor Sidra Hamidi, PhD, was featured in a Jan. 8 article in The West Volusia Beacon titled, “A local take on recent U.S.-Iran tensions.” On the threat of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, Hamidi said, “That’s always been the question for the last 20 years now — are they actually going to build a nuclear weapon? I think, largely through diplomacy, that has been prevented for a long time, but I think the question is going to arise among Iranian leadership, if they had nuclear weapons, would the U.S. have taken this act?”

• Professor of Psychology Christopher Ferguson, PhD, wrote the article, “Sex Differences in Cognition” on Quillette on Dec. 27. Ferguson discusses the biological differences between the sexes and whether or not there is merit to the argument that biology accounts for certain social discrepancies between the sexes.

• Hatters Baseball Head Coach Steve Trimper announced the upcoming release of his new book, “Walk Off Winning: A Game Plan for Leading Your Team and Organization to Success,” on his website. The book will be released Jan. 15.

• Associate Professor of Mathematics Hari Pulapaka, PhD, was interviewed in a feature on 90.7 WMFE, an Orlando member station of NPR, on Dec. 26 about holiday foods.

• Hari Pulapaka was also featured in a Jan. 2 segment on WMFE-90.7 on the U.S. Constitution titled, “A Closer Look at the US Constitution.” The segment featured an audio recording of various members of the Central Florida community and WMFE staff reading the Constitution.

• Law Professor Ciara Torres-Spelliscy wrote a Dec. 29 article featured on the Harvard Law Review Blog called, “The Supreme Court Is Killing Contribution Limits Softly; A Few Years from Now They Likely Will Be Dead.” It was also picked up by Election Law Blog, SCOTUSblog and a few alternative-news websites. 

• Torres-Spelliscy was also quoted in the Dec. 24 Truthdig article, “Bloomberg Campaign Exposed for Exploiting Prison Labor.”

Other News:

• Visiting Assistant Professor of Health Sciences Ronette Lategan-Potgieter, PhD, was quoted in the Jan. 3 article “When to Try ‘Souping’ to Lose Weight” on AARP.org. “Many Americans consume way too little vegetables and plant-based proteins in their diets,” Lategan-Potgieter said. “Eating soup can be an easy and tasty way to incorporate more vegetables and legumes in the diet, which have well-reported health benefits.”

• Visiting Assistant Professor of Journalism Andy Dehnart published the article, “Survivor Winners at War: what we know so far about Survivor season 40” on Dec. 19 at Reality Blurred.

• Professor of Law Louis J. Virelli was featured in an interview with Spectrum Bay News 9 on recent Supreme Court cases.

• Law Professor Ciara Torres-Spelliscy wrote a Dec. 19 opinion piece for the Brennan Center for Justice website called, “The Role of Campaign Finance Laws in the Ukraine Scandal.” It was picked up by Election Law Blog. 

• On Dec. 31, Torres-Spelliscy published an op-ed at Truthout titled, “19 Things We Learned About Money in Politics in 2019.”

• Law Associate Dean Darryl Wilson was featured in a Dec. 26 interview on WMNF for an article titled, “Gibson is suing Tampa’s Armadillo Enterprises over guitar trademarks.”

• Law Professor Peter F. Lake was quoted in a Dec. 30 article in The Dallas Morning News called, “Under new Texas law, college employees could be fired and charged for not reporting sexual misconduct.”

• Law Professor Rebecca C. Morgan wrote the following blogs for the Elder Law Prof blog: Dec. 20, More Student Views on Current Events; Dec. 23, New Book on Estate Planning; and Jan. 2, Acting Classes in Senior Center.

• The Legal Theory Blog recommended Law Professor Ciara Torres-Spelliscy’s book, Political Brands, in a Dec. 21 post.

Alumni News:

• Former Hatter baseball star Jacob deGrom was named New York Athlete of the Decade by the New York Post on Dec. 26.

• Michael Cabales, VP of the Long Island-based mortgage lender Intercontinental Capital Group, was featured in a Dec. 23 press release. Under his management, the office is expanding in 2020.

• Suzanne Forbes was named Managing Partner at James Moore & Company, P.L., according to a Dec. 30 story from the Business Report of North Central Florida.

• College of Law Alumni Mary Linville Atkins and John Griffin were appointed to the Florida Board of Optometry by Gov. Ron DeSantis, as reported by the governor’s official website on Dec. 20.

• Alumnus Thomas Rebman was featured in a Dec. 22 Fox 35 Orlando segment for delivering hats and care packages to the homeless in the Palm Bay area.

• College of Law Alumna Chelsie M. Lamie published the article “Practicing Law in Paradise” at Above the Law on Dec. 19.

• Attorney Kayla Richmond was elected stockholder at the law firm of Henderson, Franklin, Starnes & Holt, P.A. on Jan. 5, according to a press release.

• Robert Chambers was hired as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer for Americold Realty Trust, as reported in the Jan. 9 staff report “Americold Realty Trust Expands Executive Leadership Team, Appoints Robert Chambers as Chief Commercial Officer.”

• Alumnus Dallas J. Zulli was appointed Chief Operating Officer/Chief Financial Officer at the real estate development firm Smith Land & Improvement Corporation, as reported by a Jan. 10 press release.

• Alumna Doricia Miller Rivas passed away on Dec. 7, 2019, according to an obituary in the Orlando Sentinel.

• Alumna Tracy Sheehan passed away on Dec. 25, 2019, according to an article in the Tampa Bay Times.

• Alumna Jennifer A. Nichols was named shareholder at Roetzel & Andress, according to a Jan. 1 announcement from the firm. 

• Alumna Cecile Evans Rider rejoined Rogers Towers, according to a Jan. 2 article in the Jacksonville Daily Record.

• Liz Tew recently joined AssuredPartners as a sales executive, according to a Jan. 7 Upstate Business Journal post.