Rajnarayanan Tapped for Pandemic Preparation Stories

Feb 07, 2024

Salon, Fortune, and others recently featured insight from Rajendram Rajnarayanan, Ph.D., assistant dean of research and associate professor at NYITCOM-Arkansas, in coverage regarding preparation for the next pandemic. Rajnarayanan, who manages a COVID-19 sequencing dashboard, told Salon that it’s important to plan for the next pandemic, a hypothetical “Disease X,” because the world is more connected than ever before. While disease outbreaks in early history were more localized, they have a greater potential to spread more rapidly today, he explains. 

In Fortune, Rajnarayanan discussed how a pandemic treaty among the World Health Organization’s member nations would provide an international accord on pandemic preparation, positioning nations to better respond to Disease X than they did to COVID-19. “The need is for a balanced and comprehensive approach that considers diplomatic, cooperative, deterrent, and unifying measures to effectively address global health challenges,” he said.

 

Posillico Quoted in Newsday FAFSA Delay Story

Feb 05, 2024

Newsday featured comments from Vice President for Enrollment Management Joseph Posillico, Ed.D., in an article about delays with the U.S. Department of Education’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

“[The delay] limits the timeframe for students and families to receive and compare awards from multiple universities…and would provide students with just about a one-month turnaround before the May 1 decision date. I know that New York Tech and others are considering extending the decision date to relieve some of the pressures that families may be feeling,” said Posillico. He also shared that New York Tech has been in communication with parents regarding the delay, and is providing families with sample aid packages that provide families with a sense of the type of aid they might expect.

 

Newsday: OT Faculty a “Hometown Hero"

Feb 01, 2024

Alexander Lopez, J.D., OT/L, associate professor of occupational therapy, is a “hometown hero” according to Newsday. The occupational therapist in being recognized in part due to the sports facility he founded called Inclusive Sports and Fitness (ISF) that is “dedicated to helping young people with disabilities improve their movement and socialization skills.” Lopez noted the work at ISF, which has state-of-the-art treadmills and other specialized equipment to help improve the movement of disabled children, is “backed by research from his colleagues at New York Institute of Technology.”

 

Personal Finance Expert Quoted in MarketWatch

Feb 01, 2024

Wenyao Hu, Ph.D., assistant professor of finance and accounting, was quoted in a MarketWatch article about budgeting. Hu notes that a relatively simple system of using multiple checking accounts to divide up your salary into different groups can be useful.

“A practical tip is to set up a separate account and arrange biweekly transfers aligned with your salary schedule, possibly through direct deposit,” he said. “This system ensures a portion of your income is automatically saved.”

 

Haar Lends Expertise to BBC Article

Jan 31, 2024

The School of Health Professions' Mindy Haar, Ph.D., RDN, shared her nutrition expertise for a BBC.com article about Starbucks' olive oil-infused coffee, Oleato. Haar explains that the coffee is not the healthiest way to reap the nutritional benefits of olive oil, pointing out that the drink contains an excessive amount of calories. A 16-ounce Oleato Cafe Latte with oat milk, for instance, has 330 calories, while an Oleato Golden Foam Cold Brew has 310 calories, roughly the same amount as some fast food cheeseburgers. "If you want to have olive oil, have it with your food," Haar advises.

 

Anatomy Research Featured in Prominent Outlets

Jan 30, 2024

Research by Postdoctoral Fellow Edwin Dickinson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Michael Granatosky, Ph.D., and NYITCOM student Melody Young appeared in the New York Times, New Scientist, Smithsonian Magazine, and others. The findings suggest that parrots use their beak as a third limb to swing from branch to branch, much like monkeys. Dickinson tells New Scientist that animal anatomy and behaviors don’t always match up in obvious ways; animals can co-opt body parts to do things beyond the purposes for which they evolved. “In the case of the parrots, you’re basically using your feeding system to move, and that’s a pretty complicated task from a neurological perspective,” he says. 

 

Kirk Interviewed by NPR Affiliate

Jan 27, 2024

Colleen Kirk, D.P.S., associate professor of management and marketing studies, discussed her research in a Southern California public radio segment. Kirk, who co-authored a study with a professor at West Virginia University, explained to NPR affiliate LAIst that the findings suggest people have a psychological tendency to incorrectly assume their peers judge them harshly for declining invitations. In other words, turning down an invitation doesn't typically bring the social backlash that invitees often expect. 

 

The New York Times Spotlights Aluminaire House’s Next Chapter

Jan 25, 2024

Aluminaire House, one of the earliest examples of modernist architecture in America that for a time lived on the Central Islip campus thanks to the leadership of School of Architecture and Design Associate Professor Frances Campani and Professor Emeritus Michael Schwarting, was featured in a lengthy profile in The New York Times: “A Beacon of Modern Architecture Lands in the Desert.” The structure is soon to be displayed permanently in the Palm Springs Art Museum. Built in 1931, the house was set to be demolished in 1986  “until the architect Michael Schwarting raised the money to dismantle and move the house to Central Islip, N.Y., where it became an educational project” at New York Institute of Technology,” the article reads, continuing, “Schwarting and the architect Frances Campani worked with students on it until 2004… Eventually, to protect it from vandalism, they dismantled the house again and stored the pieces in a 40-foot-long tractor-trailer. ‘It took five days,’ Schwarting recalled. “It comes apart like a big erector set.”

 

Fitness Expert Shares Insight with Real Simple

Jan 25, 2024

Alexander Rothstein, M.S., coordinator and instructor for the Exercise Science, B.S. program, lent his expertise to the Real Simple article "How to Build Endurance for a Stronger Heart and Muscles." Rothstein explains the difference between muscular and cardiovascular endurance, and that endurance is often confused with stamina. He explains that, while the two are similar and related, cardiovascular endurance focuses on just the physiological components of maintaining physical effort, whereas stamina includes the psychological as well as the physiological components.

“Stamina is a combination of cardiovascular endurance and the perception of fatigue,” Rothstein says, adding that it also includes the ability to push past the feeling of fatigue.

 

AI Business Features Nizich's Insight on New Device

Jan 22, 2024

Michael Nizich, Ph.D., director of the ETIC and adjunct associate professor of computer science, is featured prominently in an AI Business article about a new AI agent, the rabbit R1 device, that seemingly understands what people want to do, and then does it for them. Nizich noted that “it appears that the very unique difference in the rabbit r1 device is that it is learning how you, as an individual, use your apps to make your life easier, more productive, and usually just more enjoyable.” Devices like the r1 work because an “individual's digital routines typically show little variation, making them manageable by an advanced AI system,” he said.