Stetson University in the News, Dec. 10, 2021 – Jan. 6, 2022

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Top Stories:

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Christopher F. Roellke, PhD

• University Business interviewed President Christopher F. Roellke, PhD, for the Nov. 29 story, “President Series: Why kindness has been one of keys to Stetson’s success.” “It was clear that I was going to be confronting an emergency upon arrival,” said Roellke, who became Stetson’s president in July 2020. “I wanted to have the community focus on three simple themes for how to address the pandemic: kindness, empathy and shared ownership. I spent a lot of time talking about how critical it was at a time of high anxiety, at a time of a great deal of uncertainty, that we all try to abide by principles of kindness and empathy.”

• Yale Climate Connections interviewed Jason Evans, PhD, associate professor of Environmental Science and Studies, and director of the Institute for Water and Environmental Resilience, for the Dec. 16 podcast, “In one Florida county, studying and planning for flood risk led to reduced insurance premiums.” The piece also was broadcast on WEMU-FM in Michigan and numerous other public radio stations across the nation.

• Quillette posted the essay, “My APA Resignation,” by Chris Ferguson, PhD, professor of Psychology, on Dec. 31. The website, Legal Insurrection, excerpted Ferguson’s piece in the Jan. 1 post, “Psychology Prof Leaves American Psychological Association Over Their Embrace of Woke Ideology.” Also, Free Republic reposted Ferguson’s essay on Jan. 1.

portrait of Carol Azab for Stetson in the News
Carol Azab, PhD

• The West Volusia Beacon featured Carol Azab, PhD, assistant professor of Marketing, in the Dec. 17 story, “Study: Customers with accents receive different service levels.”

• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Nedra Rhone quoted Chris Ferguson, professor of Psychology, in her Dec. 17 piece, “OPINION: Does reading banned books negatively impact young readers?”

• The Sarasota Herald-Tribune featured Stetson’s DeLand Hall in the Dec. 11 story, “Florida Buildings I Love: No. 114: DeLand Hall, 1884, DeLand.” Harold Bubil, Real Estate editor emeritus, wrote: “Florida’s colleges have a lot of significant buildings, but none has served longer in an educational context than DeLand Hall at Stetson University. In its 135 years of service, it has served as the library, chapel, classrooms, gymnasium and administrative offices – all at once as the first building on campus – and later the music school, a dormitory for women students and even a kindergarten.”

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Chris Ferguson, PhD

• The Frontier Post quoted Chris Ferguson, professor of Psychology, in the Jan. 2 story, “An excessive love of video games has been recognized as a mental disorder.”

• MD Edge and Medscape.com quoted Chris Ferguson, professor of Psychology, in the Jan. 3 post, “Pandemic screen time linked to anxiety, depression in older kids.”

• Bloomberg Law quoted Stetson Law Professor Ciara Torres-Spelliscy in the Dec. 10 story, “Supreme Court Abortion Ruling Paves Way for Copycat Laws.” That ruling will give states “the political cover to go ahead and enact harsh restrictions on abortion providers that cowardly place enforcement in the hands of private parties through expensive civil lawsuits,” Torres-Spelliscy said. The story also was briefed on Bloomberg Government.

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, Stetson University
Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, JD

• Biz News Post and Eminetra quoted Stetson Law Professor Ciara Torres-Spelliscy in the Jan. 3 story, “Covid-19 politics force state lawmakers to ponder pharma campaign cash.”

• The Sun-Sentinel quoted Law Professor Ciara Torres-Spelliscy in the Dec. 17 article, “Operative pitched secretive political spending plan to FPL exec’s email alias, records reveal.”

More Stetson in the News:

• The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette profiled the late Louis Freund, former chairman of the art department from 1951-59 and artist in residence from 1959-67, in the Dec. 18 article, “Freunds of Eureka Springs.”

• The website, nj.com, cited Stetson University in the Dec. 23 story, “The red wave of outrage.”

• Blogarama quoted Chris Ferguson, professor of Psychology, in the Dec. 31 post, “Why The Argument that Video Games Breed Violence is OVER ENTIRELY.”

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Andy Dehnart, MFA

• Los Angeles radio station KFI interviewed Andy Dehnart, MFA, visiting assistant professor of Journalism, on Dec. 28 about “The Bachelor” and other reality TV series.

• The West Volusia Beacon published the Dec. 14 column, “Imagine West Volusia: Parades show us what we value,” by Wendy Anderson, PhD, professor of Environmental Science and Studies, and her Jan. 4 column, “Imagine West Volusia: Why would legislators end soil-and-water protections?”

• The Daily Mail and other media outlets cited Stetson University in the Dec. 26 story, “REVEALED: Britain’s teenage gamers who are earning more than £900,000 for playing Fornite, Fifa and Call of Duty professionally for up to 10 hours every day.”

• The West Volusia Beacon published the Dec. 15 column, “Chef’s Corner: I’ve lived every moment until now — and eat more cabbage,” by Hari Pulapaka, PhD, associate professor of Mathematics.

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Hari Pulapaka, PhD

• The Daytona Beach News-Journal cited Hari Pulapaka, associate professor of Mathematics, in the Dec. 15 story, “11 spots for delicious vegetarian and vegan food in Volusia County from the beaches to DeLand.” Pulapaka’s cookbook, “Dreaming in Spice: A Sinfully Vegetarian Odyssey,” was included in the January article, “19 Cookbooks for Food Justice and Sustainability,” on Food Tank.

• The Tampa Bay Times quoted Law Professor Ciara Torres-Spelliscy in the Jan. 6 article, “Florida and Jan. 6: Where do we go from here?”

• DNYUZ.com, theworldnews.net and several other media outlets quoted Ellen Podgor, the Gary R. Trombley Family White-Collar Crime Research Professor of Law, in the Dec. 12 post, “Fortenberry indictment raises questions about the FBI’s tactics.”

• The podcast, To the Point Already, quoted Grant Christensen, assistant professor of Law, in the Dec. 15 segment, “The future of online gambling in Florida.”

• Motherhood Moment quoted Chris Ferguson, professor of Psychology, in the Dec. 14 post, “Parenting Pointers: Video Games, Abuse, and Mass Homicides.”

• The Daytona Beach News-Journal quoted Director of Athletics Jeff Altier and cited men’s basketball Head Coach Donnie Jones in the Dec. 14 story, “Stetson, City of DeLand agree to Melching Field improvements; Jones extended.”

• The Hill and theworldnews.net quoted Stetson Law Professor Ciara Torres-Spelliscy in the Dec. 14 story, “GOP election objectors rake in corporate cash.”

• WFTV cited Stetson College of Law in the Jan. 4 story, “Who is Justice James E.C. Perry, the namesake of Seminole County’s new courthouse annex?”

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Robyn Powell, JD, PhD

• Radio station KSL in Salt Lake City interviewed Stetson Law Professor Robyn Powell, the Bruce R. Jacob Visiting Assistant Professor, on Dec. 14 for the story, “Government regulations can hurt parents with disabilities. Here’s how we fix that, says advocate.” The website, headtopics.com, and others quoted Powell in the Dec. 27 story, “Parents with Disabilities Face Medicare Rules That Exclude Parental Assistance.”

• The website, floridabar.org, cited Stetson Law Dean Emeritus and Professor Bruce R. Jacob in the Dec. 27 post, “Nominations sought for professionalism awards.”

• The Tampa Bay Times cited Michèle Alexandre, dean and professor of Stetson College of Law, in the Dec. 9 story, “Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg welcomes new board leaders, trustees.”

• Optum Perks quoted Ronette Lategan-Potgieter, PhD, visiting assistant professor of Health Sciences, in the Dec. 29 post, “10 high-fiber foods you should eat every week.”

• Hometown News cited the Stetson Aquatic Center and a Stetson historic walk in “West Volusia Community Notes, Dec. 10, 2021.”

• The St. Pete Catalyst cited Stetson Law in the Dec. 21 story, “Brandes discusses new District Court of Appeals in downtown St. Pete.”

• The West Volusia Beacon noted the death of T. Wayne Bailey, professor emeritus of political science, in the Dec. 30 story, “Slip-sliding into 2022.” The Beacon also noted numerous Stetson events in the Dec. 30 story, “2021 a good year for West Volusia businesses, despite pandemic.”

• The Immigration Prof Blog cited Law Dean Michèle Alexandre on Dec. 17 as a contributor to the upcoming book, “Beyond Imagination?: The January 6 Insurrection.”

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Rebecca Morgan, JD

• The Elder Law Prof Blog featured the following pieces by Rebecca C. Morgan, professor of Law and Boston Asset Management Chair in Elder Law:

  • Dec. 14: NY Times Investigation Into CMS Appeals Process for SNFs
  • Dec. 15: Loss of Dignity As Ageism
  • Dec. 16: California Aid-in-Dying Statute Revisions
  • Dec. 17: Using Dark Web to Steal Older Americans’ Identities
  • Dec. 18: Budgeting for Medicare Increases?
  • Dec. 20: California Reconsidering Criteria for SNF Medicaid Funding
  • Dec. 21: SNF Staffing Standards-New Report
  • Dec,. 22: Does Technology Combat Social Isolation
  • Dec. 22: Budgeting for Medicare Increases?

• The Legal Writing Prof Blog noted Law Professor Anne Mullins was a speaker at the Oregon School of Law during a Legal Writing Institute (LWI) One-Day Legal Writing Workshop called “(Not) Just Visiting: Navigating Early Careers in Legal Writing.” Stetson also hosted one of these workshops, called, “Looking Forward: Strategies for Assessment that Ensure Equity, Measure Learning, and Prepare Students for the Demands of Practice,” according to the blog.

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Carmen Johnson, JD

• Carmen Johnson was an educator for The Workers’ Compensation Institute’s inaugural Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program and DEI Council at its annual conference in Orlando on Dec. 13, according to an announcement.

• 10 Tampa Bay quoted adjunct Law Professor and alumnus Jay Wolfson in the Dec. 28 segment, “As Omicron variant spreads, CDC releases new guidelines for COVID-19 cases.”

• ABC 7 quoted adjunct Law Professor and alumnus Jay Wolfson in the Dec. 20 article, “Public health experts puzzled over arrest of prominent Sarasota oncologist.”

• WESH 2 News cited Stetson’s Covid protocols in a Jan. 4 segment.

• Florida Bar News posted the story, “May, McCoun inducted into Stetson Law Hall of Fame,” on Jan. 5.

• NewsDaytonaBeach.com quoted instructor Meg Young in the Jan. 5 post, “Applications Open For 2022 Volusia-Flagler Rainbow Alliance Scholarship.”

• Election Law Blog cited Law Professor Ciara Torres-Spelliscy in the Jan. 5 post, “January 21 Virtual Symposium for the First Amendment Law Review: ‘Election Speech and the First Amendment Symposium.’ ”

Stetson Alumni in the News:

• Stetson Law alumna Rena Upshaw Frazier was cited Dec. 16 in the Elle story, “Meet the Cast of Selling Tampa, Your Next Reality TV Obsession,” and My Celebrity Life cited her in its Dec. 15 story, “Selling Tampa cast: Meet the women of Allure Realty as Selling Sunset spin-off debuts on Netflix.” Essence also featured the series.

• The website, bustle.com, featured Frazier in the Dec. 14 post, “Allure Realty’s First Agent Could be the First One to Leave the Brokerage.” The website, Distractify, posted, “Did ‘Selling Tampa’s’ Rena Frazier Start Her Own Brokerage Firm?” on Dec. 16. Grazia posted, “Selling Tampa: Did Rena Upshaw-Frazier Leave Allure Realty to Start a Brokerage?” on Dec. 21. The Cinemaholic.com featured her in the Dec. 15 post, “What Is Rena Frazier’s Net Worth?” Tvovermind.com posted, “10 Things You Didn’t Know about Rena Frazier,” on Dec. 23.

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Stetson University in the News is a weekly roundup of media coverage that mentions Stetson, its faculty, students, staff and alumni.

• Orlando TV station WFTV profiled the late alumna Blythe de Armas Sheahan in the Dec. 28 broadcast, “ ‘Her spirit will live on’: Late teacher honored through scholarship.”

• The Daytona Beach News-Journal featured alumni Brendan Rogers and Will Phillips in the Dec. 25 story, “DeLand-based filmmakers earn regional Emmys for video promoting Daytona Beach library.”

• The University of Massachusetts website and the Bay State Banner profiled alumna Nefertiti Walker in the Dec. 15 post, “UMass President Meehan appoints Dr. Nefertiti Walker as Presidential Advisor on Equity and Inclusion.”

• The West Volusia Beacon profiled alumnus Rick Darlington in the Dec. 21 story, “Class Notes: Rick Darlington is the new football coach at DeLand High School.”

• The website, Personal Care Truth, featured former Florida attorney general and Stetson Law alumna Pam Bondi in the Dec. 16 post, “Pam Bondi Weight Loss: Diet Secret, Workout, Before & After.”

• The Ponte Vedra Recorder profiled alumnus David Davis in the Dec. 16 article, “Seaside Bank welcomes Davis as North Florida president.”

• Fat Pitch Financials, Canadian Insider Blog and numerous other media outlets profiled Stetson Law alumnus Sean K. McQuaid in the Dec. 23 post, “Sean K. McQuaid Named Best Personal Injury Lawyer in St. Petersburg, FL.”

• SRQ magazine, The Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Tampa Bay Newswire and Sarasota Magazine reported Dec. 14 that Sarasota attorney and Stetson Law alumnus Ben Sorrell has been named adjunct professor for Stetson College of Law.

• The West Volusia Beacon profiled alumna Patti Stokes in the Dec. 21 article, “Bee Realty Corp adds more agents.”

• ENI Presswire and the South Santa Rosa News cited alumna Leanne Polhill in the Dec. 20 article, “Governor Ron DeSantis Appoints Four to the Board of Hearing Aid Specialists.”

• LawFuel profiled Stetson Law alumna Bobbi Sternheim in the Dec. 22 story, “Star Lawyer Bobbi Sternheim – From Ghislaine Maxwell to Terrorist Defence.”

• Florida Daily profiled Stetson Law alumna Ashley Moody in the Dec. 22 story, “Overview of Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.”

• Pocket News Alert profiled alumna Britt McHenry on Dec. 29.

• Southwest Florida Business Today profiled Law alumnus Joe Cuffel in the Dec. 31 post, “Joe Cuffel joins Green Schoenfeld & Kyle LLP.”

• The Tampa Bay Times profiled Law alumna Vitalia Diaz Shafer in the Dec. 31 story, “Tampa Bay Attorney, daughter of immigrants, is an advocate for her clients.”

• The Tallahassee Democrat profiled alumna and interior designer Kenan Fishburne in the Dec. 17 story, “Kenan Fishburne inspires, encourages others.”

• Law alumnus Erik Hanson, an attorney in Shutts & Bowen LLP’s Sarasota office, was recently announced as a member of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance’s 2022 Board of Directors.

WUSF reported St. Petersburg will be the new home of an appeals court building named after Law alumnus Bernie McCabe.

• Law alumna Natalie Vann Walker joined McGlinchey’s Commercial Litigation group as an associate in the Birmingham office.

• Law alumna Tiffany Love joined the Tampa office of Adams and Reese.

• The Highlands News-Sun featured alumnus Todd Patrick Scholl in the Jan. 4 story, “Highlands gets new public defense lawyer.”

• CityBiz cited Law alumna Christina Mitchelson in the Jan. 5 post, “Kelley Kronenberg Adds Three Attorneys Throughout Florida.”

• WPGX-TV Online profiled Law alumnus Gordon Oldham in the Jan. 5 post, “Attorneys Gordon Oldham and Jack Delcamp Selected as Super Lawyers Rising Stars.”