UW Tacoma in the media

Professors Katie Baird and Turan Kayaoglu describe the history of scapegoating vulnerable groups for pandemics, citing the Black Death, the 1918 influenza epidemic, AIDS and reactions to COVID-19.

Student Benjamin Fredell provides a frank glimpse into his life playing in an elite youth hockey league. His experiences of self-hatred and homophobia led him to quit to find happiness.

Assistant Professor David Reyes is quoted on data showing the incidence of sickness and death related to COVID-19 is higher among people of color in Pierce County.

Professor Ali Modarres is quoted on the economic "collective trauma" that Tacoma and Pierce County are experiencing in the wake of the pandemic.

A new salad cafe will open on Pacific Avenue in space leased from UW Tacoma. The location was formerly occupied by Savor Creperie, which closed in March (for reasons unrelated to COVID-19).

This biographical profile of Dr. Altaf Merchant, interim dean of the Milgard School of Business, features a visual look at events that make up a typical (pre-COVID-19) day in his life.

Stan Emert, director of the new sports enterprise management program at the Milgard School of Business, describes the new program, supported in part by a $1M gift from the Tacoma Rainiers.

The Swiss, a retail tenant of UW Tacoma, is offering to-go service during COVID-19-related closure, and is participating in Downtown Tacoma Partnership's Hero Meals program.

Emeritus Professor Robert Crawford says that "public protest should always be protected as an exercise of free expression, but aspects of these continuing demonstrations should raise alarm."

For this long thought piece which has elements of a memoir, the author interviews Assistant Teaching Professor Tony Perone on the benefits of weaving imaginative play into one's life.

Tacoma's RAIN Incubator, led by David Hirschberg, principal investigator at the Center for Urban Waters, is testing Tacoma sewage for the presence of COVID-19 virus.

Robin Evans-Agnew and Denise Drevdahl of the School of Nursing & Healthcare Leadership warn of regional and national nursing shortages that are being exacerbated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Eric Barone, '11, created 'Stardew Valley' all by himself over a four-year period after graduating from UW Tacoma. Now the game has sold over 10 million copies.

Faculty and staff have access to Zoom for meetings and instruction, but faculty are encouraged to focus on asynchronous activities. UW Tacoma director of digital learning Darcy Janzen is quoted.

Robin Evans-Agnew and co-authors argue that the crisis in U.S. public health long pre-dates COVID-19, and that our already-marginalized communities will bear the brunt of the pandemic.

Professor Turan Kayaoglu calls for better understanding of the sources of anti-Muslim hate, and proposes that the solution is "not Muslims getting better at liberal Islam, but at liberal democracy."

To help small businesses cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, UW Tacoma is providing rent relief to retail tenants along its Pacific Avenue campus frontage.

Jim Gawel is researching the surprisingly fast recovery of Spirit Lake since the eruption of Mount St. Helens. He and his students are examining floating log mats to see what role they play.

Ali Modarres notes that, just when we need more labor migration to ensure an adequate work-force, the global pandemic is revealing weaknesses in our social and healthcare infrastructure.

A local biotech incubator is gearing up to perform 100 COVID-19 tests per day. RAIN Incubator founder David Hirschberg is a principal investigator at the UW Tacoma Center for Urban Waters.

Host Tom Layson interviews School of Urban Studies Dean Ali Modarres on the challenges of Tacoma growth in general and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

UW announced a transition to remote instruction for the remainder of winter quarter on March 6, 2020. UW Tacoma students and instructors are interviewed for their reactions to the change.

Ben Mauk, associate director of campus planning and retail operations, talks with metro news columnist Matt Driscoll about the viability of a grocery store in downtown Tacoma.

Fifteen UW Tacoma students worked as paid interns during the 2020 Washington Legislative Session at the Olympia state capitol, more than any other school in the state.

Andy James and Zhenyu Tian of the Center for Urban Waters have identified 64 chemicals never before detected in the waters of Puget Sound, some at levels that could be hazardous to marine life. 

Tacoma is experiencing a renaissance, led in part by the growth of UW Tacoma, but experts including Prof. Ali Modarres caution that thoughtful planning is crucial to ensuring equity and resilience.

A Tacoma non-profit, Shared Housing Services, has partnered with UW Tacoma on a program called Husky2Husky, matching students with faculty or alumni homeowners who have spare rooms.

UW Tacoma's partnership with Tacoma Housing Authority and a local private micro-apartment developer to provide subsidized housing to eligible students is mentioned is mentioned.

The author, Mark Horozowski, a lecturer in the Milgard School of Business, describes what motivates purpose-driven employees and how companies can keep them engaged.

Maureen Kennedy, assistant professor, is co-developer of a new database that describes vegetation across the U.S. that could be fuel for wildfires.

Katie Baird, professor of economics, and her co-author decry Washington's "racially imbalanced tax system" and its heavy reliance on sales and estate taxes.

A UW Tacoma-hosted talk by UPS professor Dan Burgard is an example of the "leading-edge science Tacoma seldom gets noticed for," which includes the work of the Center for Urban Waters.

New Kent City Councilmember Zandria Michaud is a 2019 American Studies graduate, summa cum laude with global honors, and a U.S. Army veteran. 

Blake Geyen, a disability-rights advocate, is a 2015 alumnus of Urban Studies.

Jimmy McCarty, the director of the Center for Equity & Inclusion, spoke at an annual event at UW Tacoma that remembers transgender murder victims.

Ali Modarres of Urban Studies was the keynote speaker at the annual event hosted by the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber.

Rania Elbasiony, a 2019 Law & Policy graduate, argues for extending educational benefits to people who are incarcerated for life without parole, citing resulting reductions in prison violence.

Andy James of the Center for Urban Waters will work with the Northwest Fisheries Science Center and WSU to examine the effect of wastewater treatment plant effluent on orcas and their prey species.

Marking the centenary of the founding of the Bauhaus, urbanists including Ali Modarres of Urban Studies debate whether cities of today live up to the visions from 100 years ago.

Assistant professor of community psychology Chris Beasley's work to build the Tacoma Post-Prison Higher Education Coalition is featured in one of the world's leading scientific journals.

Assistant Professor Amanda Sesko found in a 2010 study that black women's words and ideas were least likely to be remembered in meetings.

Eric Madfis, associate professor of criminal justice, provides insights into the wide disparity between the number of mass shootings involving male vs. female suspects.

Associate Professor Christine Stevens is a co-author of a study examining art-based mindfulness activities that could serve to reduce one of the markers of stress in teenage girls.

Rubén Casas argues that the Tacoma region needs to make decisions now that will affect whether it will be inclusive and equitable in the future.

The News Tribune editorial board calls on public higher education institutions, including UW Tacoma, to provide safe storage of student guns, a practice just ended by WSU.

Opinion columnist Clarence Page cites and quotes the work of Social Work & Criminal Justice's Eric Madfis in the wake of two mass shootings in El Paso, Tex., and Dayton, Ohio.

Lecturer Sarah Chavez took part in Poets and Artists for Migrant Justice at Seattle's Victor Hugo House, and spoke about the event with its organizer, Paul Hlava Ceballos. 

Social Work & Criminal Justice's Eric Madfis describes how white male grievance culture may motivate some individuals to carry out mass shootings.

Associate Professor Chris DeMaske cautions that government's current hands-off policy regarding internet regulation, leaving it primarily to the commercial sector, is incompatible with democracy.

Professor Ankur Teredesai was co-chair of the Association for Computing Machinery's 2019 computer science and artificial intelligence conference, held in Anchorage, Alaska.