1. K-State home
  2. »DCM
  3. »K-State News
  4. »News
  5. »K-State in the news today
  6. »January 2017

K-State News

K-State News
Kansas State University
128 Dole Hall
1525 Mid-Campus Dr North
Manhattan, KS 66506

785-532-2535
media@k-state.edu

K-Staters in the news — January 2017

The top stories mentioning Kansas State University are posted below. Download an Excel file (xls) with all of this month's news stories.

Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017

Physicists inadvertently discover a way to mass-produce graphene
1/30/17 Yahoo! Finance
That may have changed courtesy of a breakthrough at Kansas State University, where physicists have inadvertently discovered a way to mass-produce graphene using nothing more complex than hydrocarbon gas, oxygen, and a spark plug.

Study finds the only thing that may soften the harm of spanking
1/30/17 Mom.me
The study followed 500 children and their families from toddlerhood and in to adulthood. It was led by Marcos Mendez of Kansas State University's Department of Family Studies and Human Services. His team of researchers used data taken from the Family Transitions Project, which was funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Kansas State University is the 'Silicon Valley for Biodefense,' according to Blue Ribbon Study Panel
1/30/17 (e) Science News
When the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense visited Kansas State University for a series of agrodefense discussions, the university cemented its status as a national leader in animal health, biosciences and food safety research.

Monday, Jan. 30, 2017

The U.S. was ripe for a women’s protest, and more are likely
1/28/17 Washington Post
In a working paper with Sam Bell of Kansas State University, we find that the United States leads the world as the country most “at risk” for future high-intensity women’s protests before 2020. Building on our team’s earlier work predicting insurgency, we used our statistical model of the factors associated with women’s protest to identify countries where there are fewer and less intense protests than these underlying factors would suggest.

Financial therapy can be an investment in your relationship
1/29/17/USA Today/The Spectrum
Financial planning “should be a creative process that helps people understand who they are and how that understanding helps them and those they love,” says Erika Rasure, who has a Ph.D. in financial planning from Kansas State University, where the term “financial therapy” was coined.

Gates awards $6.1 million for advanced sorghum breeding techniques
1/30/17 Philanthropy News Digest
Led by the Danforth Center in partnership with ICRISAT (India), CERAAS-ISRA (Senegal), CIRAD (France), EIAR (Ethiopia), HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Kansas State University, University of Arizona, George Washington University, and NRGene (Israel), the Sorghum Genomics Toolbox is employing cutting-edge technologies to sequence and analyze grain sorghum genomes, capture tens of millions of phenotypic observations over the course of a growing season, and accelerate breeding efforts by connecting phenotypes to genotypes in the field.

Friday, Jan. 27, 2017

Research to aid developing farmers
1/26/17 PMorning Ag Clips
The Sorghum Genomics Toolbox, led by the Danforth Center with partners at ICRISAT (India), CERAAS-ISRA (Senegal), CIRAD (France), EIAR (Ethiopia), HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Kansas State University, University of Arizona, George Washington University, and NRGene (Israel), is employing cutting-edge technologies to sequence and analyze grain sorghum genomes, capture tens of millions of phenotypic observations over the course of a growing season, and accelerate breeding efforts by connecting phenotypes to genotypes in the field. - See more at: http://www.morningagclips.com/research-to-aid-developing-farmers/#sthash.Hol6ciKc.dpuf

Video game ratings work, if you use them
1/26/17 Science Newsline
To test the ratings' effectiveness, Laczniak and colleagues from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Kansas State University and Utah State University collected data through an online survey of families with children 8 to 12 years old. Researchers looked specifically at this age range because it's a time of various developmental challenges and cognitive changes - growing independence, exposure to risky behaviors and peer influence.

National Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense visits K-State
1/26/17 KMAN
While the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense questioned a number of scientists, academic leaders, legislators, and industry representatives at Kansas State University Thursday, local Biosecurity Research Institute Director Dr. Stephen Higgs turned the tables a bit, asking the panel a question following his portion of the discussion. Higgs asked what next and Blue Ribbon Panel member and Former Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle responded that with the new administration there is a potential for new emphasis and energy.

Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017

*Physicists patent detonation technique to mass-produce graphene
1/25/17 PHYS.org 
Forget chemicals, catalysts and expensive machinery—a Kansas State University team of physicists has discovered a way to mass-produce graphene with three ingredients: hydrocarbon gas, oxygen and a spark plug.

College consortium planning super-speedy internet for Kansas schools
1/25/17 The Wichita Eagle
KanREN already provides 100-gigabit service – 100 times as fast as Google Fiber – to Wichita State, Kansas State, the University of Kansas and the KU Medical Center, said project spokesman Kris Millsap. 

Danforth Center Expands Major Research Program to Benefit Farmers in the Developing World
1/24/17 NewsOn6.com
The Sorghum Genomics Toolbox, led by the Danforth Center with partners at ICRISAT (India), CERAAS-ISRA (Senegal), CIRAD (France), EIAR (Ethiopia), HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Kansas State UniversityUniversity of ArizonaGeorge Washington University, and NRGene (Israel), is employing cutting-edge technologies to sequence and analyze grain sorghum genomes, capture tens of millions of phenotypic observations over the course of a growing season, and accelerate breeding efforts by connecting phenotypes to genotypes in the field.

Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017

C-J Extra: Author helps keep Kansas history alive
1/24/17 Topeka Capital Journal
Bird grew up in rural Dickinson County and for 10 years lived in Manhattan, where he attended Kansas State University.

K-State grad to discuss her work on Mars rover
1/24/17 The Manhattan Mercury
A NASA scientist and K-State alumna is returning to Manhattan to present a lecture on the Curiosity rover, which has been driving around the surface of Mars since 2012.

*Area student earns semester honors at Kansas State University
1/24/17 Times Reporter 
Willard Liggett, of Dennison, recently earned semester honors at Kansas State University.

Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017

Best College Values releases ranking of 10 best value online master's in nuclear engineering
1/23/17 Yahoo! Finance
The ranking consists of ten regionally accredited colleges and universities with good reputations for offering high quality academic programs in engineering according to one or more national publications such as U.S. News & World Report. The ranking also compares tuition rates, return on investment according to Payscale.com, graduation rates, and cohort default rates to produce an overall score of 1-100. Placing first in this ranking is Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas.

Racial differences in use of financial planning services
1/23/17 Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
A new study by researchers at the University of Georgia and Kansas State University finds a major racial disparity in the use of financial planning services.

Precision ag tools help bottom line when used correctly
1/23/17 Ag Week
If you're looking for a way to save the farm in a tough market, buying a drone probably isn't going to help you, said Terry Griffin, cropping systems economist at Kansas State University.

Monday, Jan. 23, 2017

Scientist To Develop Vaccine From Genetically Modified Malaria Parasite To Prevent Mosquitoes Bitting An Infected Person
1/23/17 Latin Post
On January 20, 2017, published in Science Immunology that further detailed understanding of the immune system of the mosquito that might help the scientist build a new design or build new ways to combat and defeat malaria. Each year, malaria infects more than 200 million people and as per Kristin Michel, an insect immunologist from Kansas State University in Manhattan stated if they understand the process how the mosquito reduces that parasite then they hope to boost these mechanisms to further eliminate the parasites in the mosquito.

K-State architecture students visit vacant downtown Topeka lot to plan projects
1/20/17 Topeka Capital Journal
Nearly 30 Kansas State University architecture students stood Friday afternoon at the edge of a vacant lot in downtown Topeka. With notebooks and cameras, they recorded observations of the lot on the northeast corner of 10th and S. Kansas Avenue and its surroundings — an alley, parking garage and adjacent building. Some students asked questions of Scott Gales, principal at Architect One.

Kids and Money: Why college is not one big 'scam'
1/23/17 Miami Herald
A young man claiming to be a Kansas State University student made those comments and much more in a Facebook meltdown that went viral shortly before Christmas.

Friday, Jan. 20, 2017

Finish a Bachelor's Degree Online After Community College
01/19/17 U.S. News and World Report
Legleiter went straight into the workforce after high school. He didn't decide until years later to pursue his associate degree primarily online at Barton Community College in Great Bend, Kansas. During his first semester, Legleiter learned about a "2+2" option, or online bachelor's completion program, that would enable him to seamlessly transfer credits to the Kansas State University Global Campus, the school's online arm for adult learners.
 
* Trump's inauguration stirring mixed emotions
01/20/17 Salina Journal
Nathaniel Birkhead, assistant professor of political science at Kansas State University, said it’s tough to predict what things will be like under a Trump presidency. 
 
Decision Time for Rented Land
01/19/17 Ag Web
“The decision to drop a parcel is multi-dimensional,” says Mykel Taylor, ag economist at Kansas State University. Farm profitability is projected to be weak for several more years, so Taylor says farmers need to create a framework to analyze each piece of ground they rent. 

Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017

New K-State program to help fill need for elementary school teachers
01/16/17 KSHB Kansas City
“Increasingly people are not choosing the traditional pathways to teaching,” said Thomas Vontz, a Kansas State University College of Education professor.  

Can the 'Twinkie diet' really help with weight loss?
01/14/17 MSN Medical Daily
In the video, "Lose Weight Eating Nothing But Junk Food?" PictureFit recirculates a story that made headlines in 2010 of a nutrition professor losing weight on the "Twinkie Diet." Mark Haub of Kansas State University ate either twinkies, nutty bars, or powdered donuts every three hours instead of meals. He also munched on Doritos, sugary cereals, and Oreos too. The result? He lost 27 pounds in two months. 

Weed forcing farmers to ditch wheat
01/16/17 Dawn
Some farmers in Kansas, the largest U.S. producer of winter wheat, could lose money on every bushel, according to data from Kansas State University in Manhattan.

Friday, Jan. 13, 2017

*'Shrew'-d study: Arctic shrews, parasites indicate climate change effect on ecosystems
01/12/17 Science Daily
Andrew Hope, Kansas State University research assistant professor in the Division of Biology, and his colleagues across the U.S. have published "Shrews and Their Parasites: Small Species Indicate Big Changes" in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's 2016 Arctic Report Card. The study indicates an expansion in the range of the forest-dwelling masked shrew in Alaska, while the range of its tundra neighbor to the north, the barren ground shrew, constricts and fragments whenever the climate warms.
 
Martin Luther King Jr.'s Speech From K-State Still Resonates Nearly 50 Years Later
01/13/17 KCUR
King would start his year at Kansas State University on Jan. 19, at a convocation in a jam-packed Ahearn Field House. King came away impressed and heartened by the students he met that day in Manhattan. But we didn’t know how impressed he was until decades later when hand-written notes about K-State were found in the suit jacket he was wearing the night he was shot. His words that cold morning in Manhattan are as meaningful today as they were 48 years ago.
 
*University Patents a Cost-Saving, Longer-Lasting Biodegradable Adhesive
01/12/17 Lab Manager Magazine
Kansas State University researchers have patented the first plant-based resin of its kind that would be ideal for re-adherable painters' tape, labels, packing tapes, stationery notes, and other adhesive uses. It also can provide shiny coatings.

Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017

*Cost-saving, longer-lasting biodegradable adhesive patented by KSU
1/10/17 Phys.org
Kansas State University researchers have patented the first plant-based resin of its kind that would be ideal for re-adherable painters' tape, labels, packing tapes, stationery notes and other adhesive uses. It also can provide shiny coatings.

The calorie conundrum: Is it what you eat, or how much that helps you lose weight?
1/10/17 Cycling Weekly
In 2010, Mark Haub, professor of nutrition at Kansas State University shed 29 pounds in 10 weeks, eating Twinkies, Doritos, Oreos and other treats instead of normal meals. 

*Research Looks at Growing More Nutritional, Flavorful Strawberries in Kansas
1/10/17 e! Science News
A doctoral student at K-State Olathe, completed a series of studies focused on helping Kansas growers produce more strawberries in the state -- particularly Greater Kansas City.

Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017

*Researchers analyzed the cleanliness habits of top TV chefs and hoo-boy, it's not good
1/9/17 Wonder How To
recent study in the Journal of Public Health by Edgar Chambers IV of the Sensory Analysis Center at Kansas State University, his research assistant at the time, Curtis Maughan, and Sandria Godwin of the Didactic Program in Nutrition and Dietetics at Tennessee State University, confirmed our observations and fears: TV chefs don't do a good job of modeling safe food handling.

New rules for antibiotics on the farm may not reduce usage
1/9/17 Indiana Public Media
Resistance develops from what Hans Coetzee, professor in the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine, calls unintended consequences.

E. coli project generates new detection, control methods
1/9/17 Fox 42 
One significant finding, from Kansas State scientists, was that a virulent strain of E. coli that killed more than 50 people in Germany in 2011 is not found in cattle. Contaminated fenugreek sprouts are believed to be the source of the European outbreak.

Monday, Jan. 9, 2017

*5 money factors that could determine how long your relationship will last
1/6/17 CheatSheet
Do you and your partner seem to fight often about money? Research suggests frequent arguments about finances can put significant strain on a relationship. A Kansas State University study found frequent money fights tend to be linked to higher divorce rates. And since frequent arguments about money affect all income levels, the researchers consider the frequency of money fights to be a top divorce indicator.

Arkansas school plans for new building
1/8/17 Arkansas Democrate-Gazette
Spicer said that in February or March, the city will start a process involving the community -- with the help of consultants at Kansas State University — to develop a vision on what to place in the older properties, he said.

Flying on an airplane may turn you into a ‘zombie’
1/7/17 Politicopun
A 2015 study by Kansas State University claims fumes seep into cabin air about 5.5 times a day on U.S.-based flights.

Friday, Jan. 6, 2017

18 Food Combinations that Can Dramatically Boost Your Health
01/05/17 Reader's Digest
Grilling is a quick and healthy way to get dinner on the table, no doubt. However, cooking meat at high temps (a la grilling) creates potentially cancer-causing compounds called heterocyclic amines (HCAs). The delicious solution: marinate your meat. Especially when you use certain herbs and spices in your marinade, including rosemary, it can reduce HCAs by up to 88 percent, according to a study from Kansas State University.
 
State that had prohibition the longest now growing barley for beer
01/05/17 Wichita Eagle
The first year’s grant is $35,000. Participants include Chuck Magerl, founder of Free State Brewing Co. in Lawrence; Guorong Zhang, assistant professor and wheat breeder at the Kansas State University Agricultural Research Center in Hays; P. Stephen Baenziger, University of Nebraska professor of agronomy and horticulture; Dipak Santra, associate professor of crop breeding and genetics at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center in Scottsbluff, Neb.; and Dolores “Do” Mornhingweg, research geneticist with the United States Department of Agriculture.
 
New Rules for Antibiotics On The Farm May Not Reduce Usage
01/05/17 Indiana Public Media
Resistance develops from what Hans Coetzee, professor in the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine, calls unintended consequences. On the farm, that might come from gut bacteria in hogs or cattle that are not the intended targets of an antibiotic. If those bacteria are exposed often enough to the drug, they might eventually adapt to survive the persistent onslaught. Once that resistance is established, bacteria have quick and easy ways of sharing it.

Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017

American Airlines Plane Experiences Third Fume Incident in Six Weeks
1/4/17 TravelPulse
Citing a Kansas State University study, ABC News reports oil, fume and smoke incidents are quite rare, occurring at an average rate of just 0.2 incidents per 1000 flights.

Kansas State University Professor Warns Not To Eat Celebrity Chefs’ Food
1/4/17 University Herald
This food safety study was done by two American university research teams. They analyzed the hygiene habits of famous chefs, as reported by News Talk. The results showed a food safety issue that prompted them to advice people not to eat the food prepared by TV chefs. 

New Year, New Regulation - Why All Producers Should Resolve To Make VFD Work In 2017
1/4/17 Farms.com
As we ring in the New Year, so do we usher in the official arrival of the Veterinary Feed Directive. While the agricultural community still has mixed feelings about this regulation, Kansas State University Veterinary Specialist Dr. Mike Apley tells Radio Oklahoma Ag Network’s Farm Director Ron Hays that, emotions aside, it is imperative for animal agriculture to come together to make VFD work. He says if not, then there could be consequences.

Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017

American Airlines Jet Has 3rd Fume Incident in 3 Months, 7 Flight Attendants Transported to Hospital and Released
1/3/17 ABC News 
According to a study conducted at Kansas State University, the average rate of smoke/oil/fumes incidents is 0.2 incidents per 1000 flights. 

Let's Banish the Phrase 'Creative Writing'
1/3/17 Inside Higher Ed
Damaging stereotypes about writing and creativity continue to reinforce troubling dichotomies about the nature of creativity, writes Cydney Alexis. Cydney Alexis is an assistant professor of English and writing center director at Kansas State University.  

Sticking to your resolution to eat healthier, lose weight
1/3/17 WIBW News Now
K-State Research and Extension nutrition specialist Sandy Procter says the average person gains one-to-three pounds over the holidays, so it’s really no surprise that losing weight is a common New Year’s resolutions.

Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017

This small town refused to settle for Wal-Mart when its last local grocery store closed
1/2/17 YES! Magazine
In response to the dwindling number of rural supermarkets, Kansas State University Center for Engagement and Community Development (CECD) partnered with storeowners and local organizations to create the Rural Grocery Initiative (RGI).
 
*BEECH: Why we eat certain foods during the holidays
1/2/17 Hays Post
Roger Adams, a Kansas State University rare books librarian, has studied the history of traditional holiday foods, including the figgy pudding requested in “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” the drink referred to in “Here We Come A-Wassailing,” the sugarplums that danced in children’s heads in “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” and the once-beloved but now much-maligned fruitcake- the “Rodney Dangerfield of the food world” that gets no respect.

Navigating the world of student loans
1/1/17 Rural Messenger
The good news is that such help is available, but understanding the long-term implications on a borrower’s overall financial picture is critical, according to Elizabeth Kiss, associate professor of family studies and human services at Kansas State University.

 

 

*Asterisks indicate clips that resulted from recent news releases or pitches from Communications and Marketing.