University of Arizona in the News

To figure out how holiday gatherings can be adapted so that possible transmission of COVID-19 is less likely, The Arizona Republic spoke with University of Arizona experts Charles Gerba and Kelly Reynolds.

According to a team of geography researchers from King's College London and the University of Arizona, many U.S. citizens still live without indoor plumbing – even in the richest American cities. From 2013 to 2017, more than 1.1 million people in the U.S. did not have access to a piped water connection, the study says, with almost half of them living in the country's 50 largest cities.

The University of Arizona Poetry Center is a gathering place with lively discussion, sharing experiences and exchanging ideas. It is a space where academics pour over can't-be-found-elsewhere materials, and everyone is welcome to explore recordings, books and exhibits. Leading poets will discuss the future of poetry and speakers will toast the center and share its accomplishments during an online fundraiser at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 17.

NASA's University of Arizona-led OSIRIS-REx mission has successfully stowed the spacecraft's Sample Return Capsule and its abundant sample of asteroid Bennu.

Multiple paint companies say that they've seen an increase in sales in recent months, especially online, with many shoppers gravitating toward neutral colors, as well as muted blues and greens. "Color does play a very significant part, whether it's on a conscious level or a subconscious level, in how we feel in general," said Dr. Mohab Ibrahim, an associate professor of anesthesiology and pharmacology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson.

In August 2020, California passed a law that requires college students in the state university system to take an ethnic studies course in order to graduate. In essence, the California state legislature has made it mandatory for the nearly 500,000 students in the Cal State system to take the classes that student activists and others fought for universities to implement decades ago. Nolan Cabrera, an associate professor in the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Arizona, argues their benefits outweigh their liabilities.

Children infected with the coronavirus produce weaker antibodies and fewer types of them than adults do, suggesting they clear their infection much faster, according to a new study published Thursday. Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona, is quoted throughout the article. "You don't really need a huge, overly robust immune response to maintain protections over some period of time," he said. "I don't know that I would be especially worried that kids have a little bit lower antibody response."

An episode of the Axios Re:Cap podcast covers why Joe Biden under-performed Democratic Senate candidate Mark Kelly and the so-called "Sharpiegate." Kate Kenski, a professor in the University of Arizona Department of Communication, is one of the guests.

For the first time since the start of the pandemic, more than 100,000 new cases of COVID-19 were reported across the U.S. on Wednesday, according to data collected by the COVID Tracking Project. "I'm increasingly concerned that this will be a rather steep and long third wave," Saskia Popescu, an epidemiologist at the University of Arizona and a member of the Federation of American Scientists' Coronavirus Task Force, told BuzzFeed News late last month.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants every eligible American to know they can cast a ballot in Tuesday's presidential election, whether they are free of COVID-19 or not. "I actually equate it with takeout," said Saskia Popescu, an epidemiologist at the University of Arizona and a leading coronavirus safety and risk assessment expert. "There are so many safety protocols being put into place for safe voting that it is really a lower-risk activity."