January - June 2004
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The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ)
Surfing for self - You may be surprised what you find when you search for your name on the Internet
By Carrie Stetler
June 13, 2004
Suler
What happens when you do a Google search for "Denyse Dabrowski?" Ask Dabrowski herself.
Since she began working in public relations seven years ago, the North Arlington resident has often sought her name online. "Isn't that embarrassing to admit?" she asks. Maybe not.
Once considered the dirty habit of narcissists and self-promoters, searching for your self on the Internet, or "ego surfing," is now routine. People do it all the time - to gauge their success in business, indulge their curiosity or check their privacy. . .
. . ."It's like looking through a mirror and finding a different identity," said John Suler, a professor at Rider University in Lawrenceville who specializes in the psychology of cyberspace. "I think people get a kick out of the Internet as this parallel universe. They get a thrill out of seeing what mark is being made."
The New York Times
For a Frail Mrs. Reagan, A Week of Great Resolve
By Adam Nagourney and Bernard Weinraub
June 12, 2004
(front page)
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This article has appeared in several newspapers nationally. Dr. Gutin was also interviewed about Nancy Reagan on WBUR, Boston's National Public Radio affiliate, on Friday, June 11.)
Gutin
WASHINGTON, June 11 -- Nancy Reagan started her seventh day of mourning Friday bowed over her husband's coffin in the Rotunda of the Capitol. By the time the sun set in California 12 hours later, Mrs. Reagan had attended a state funeral at National Cathedral, a formal send-off at Andrews Air Force Base and, after a cross-country flight aboard an Air Force jumbo jet, Ronald Reagan's burial on a hillside outside Los Angeles.
For Mrs. Reagan, it was an exhausting and emotional test of endurance, all the more so for an 82-year-old woman who, as friends noted, for 10 years has barely been able to step out for lunch as she cared for her ailing husband. . .
. . ."She behaved with great grace and dignity," said Myra Gutin, an expert on first ladies at Rider University in New Jersey for 20 years. "For me it was reminiscent of Jacqueline Kennedy at J.F.K.'s funeral. The same sense of grace and forbearance."
Newsday
Devoted to Ronnie - Over 52 years, Nancy Reagan was her husband's admirer,
partner, promoter, surrogate and caregiver
By Denise Flaim
June 9, 2004
Gutin
When Myra Gutin sat down 15 years ago to write "The President's Partner: The First Lady in the Twentieth Century," she found that presidential wives fell into three distinct categories.
There were the ceremonial spouses, such as Mamie Eisenhower and Bess Truman, whose main focus was the White House's tea service. There were the emerging spokeswomen, Jackie Kennedy foremost among them, who demurely approached the podium, public ambassadors in pumps. There were the activists, the Eleanor Roosevelts and Hillary Rodham Clintons, who used their public influence to champion social causes.
And then there was Nancy Reagan.
"When I came to Nancy Reagan, I got stuck," says Gutin, a professor of communications at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J. "She didn't fit squarely into any of those categories. So I called her a first lady in transition."
Sacramento Bee Rusciano
Political strife erupts in nation's capital
By Lawrence R. O'Rourke, Bee Washington Bureau
May 22, 2004
(Front Page)
WASHINGTON -- The war in Iraq ignited a political firestorm Friday on Capitol Hill.
Democrats hurled sharp barbs at the White House, with Rep. Robert Matsui of Sacramento, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, declaring that President Bush is "either clueless or incompetent" when it comes to the war.
Rep. Tom Reynolds of New York, Matsui's Republican counterpart, said that House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, who on Thursday said Bush was an incompetent president, "should just go back to her pastel-colored condo in San Francisco and keep her views to herself" rather than blame Bush for the war.
Political analysts said the ourbreak of partisan sniping over the war was sparked by a drop in Bush's approval rating and a decline in public support for the war.
"It's a healthy debate," said Frank Rusciano, a political scientist at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J. "It would have been unhealthy to go into an election campaign and not have a strong discussion on something as pressing on voters' minds as the war in Iraq."
Patriot-News (Harrisburg, PA) Lorenzet
The Workplace: More firms let workers rate bosses
By Michele M. Melendez (of the Washington Bureau)
May 20, 2004
You know the dread of a performance review. That's when the boss hashes over your stellar moments -- or your screw-ups -- since your last evaluation.
Some employers are opening themselves up to the same scrutiny by giving workers the chance to rate the boss. Experts say the practice, know as "upward feedback," can make employees feel they have a role in how their workplace is run . . .
"It comes from a larger movement called 360-degree feedback, where an individual receives performance feedback from all different directions -- supervisor, peers, subordinates, self, customers," said Steven Lorenzet, assistant professor of management and human resources at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J.
Voice of America Husch
Talk to America Program -- Mt. St. Helens Anniversary
Interview by Rick Partaleo, program host
May 17, 2004
Dr. Jonathan Husch, professor of geological and marine science at Rider University, was interviewed about the 24th anniversary of Mt. St. Helens' eruption for a six-minute segment on Voice of America's Talk to America program.
Dr. Husch discussed the large explosive, catastrophic eruption that "literally blew the valcano apart." He said experts knew the volcano would erupt, but that they were "surprised by the violence and suddenness of the explosion. That was largely because the whole north face of the volcano collapsed. There had been a dome building and uplift, and it finally couldn't take it anymore. "An earthquake occurred below the volcano and that just caused the whole north slope to collapse. . . It was much like taking the top off a warm soda that has been shaken too much," he said. "Everything just exploded out. That was the direct cause of that eruption."
(Editor's Note: You may listen to Dr. Husch's VOA interview by clicking on the following link and accessing the May 17 archive. The Mt. St. Helens segment concludes the 46-minute program and starts at approximately the 39-minute mark of the program.)
Associated Press
Encouraging news for Bush, but Democrats see no need for hand-wringing
By Nancy Benac
April 23, 2004
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This Associated Press story has appeared in numerous newspapers and Web sites nationally and abroad. Nancy Benac has covered government and politics in Washington for two decades.) Rebovich
WASHINGTON (AP) -- In Maryland, Patrick Gonzales is surprised that Democrat John Kerry isn't farther ahead in such a solidly Democratic state. In New Hampshire, Republican Tom Rath is encouraged that President Bush has retained his footing in a state where he was pummeled relentlessly during the Democratic primaries.
Bush can tick off a number of states where polls now show him to be on better footing than he was at the end of the November 2000 showdown with Al Gore. But Kerry's camp says that's no cause for Democrats to be concerned. . .
. . .In New Jersey, where Gore thumped Bush by 16 points four years ago, the candidates are in a virtual tie this time.
"We are a 9/11 state," said David Rebovich, a political science professor at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J., referring to those who lost their in the World Trade Center attacks. "I think the president benefits residually from New Jersayans rallying around the president."
Furthermore, he said, voters in a state so closely tied to Wall Street "may cut Bush some slack" because of the improving economy. "There may be some trepidation that John Kerry's economic politicies will rescind tax cuts and scare Wall Street and affect people's jobs."
Despite all that, though, Rebovich believes New Jersey voters are likely to fall in behind a New England liberal when they consider the candidates' stances on issues such as gun control, abortion rights and the environment.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Gutin
Two for the road: Teresa Kerry going all out to help her husband
By Colleen McCain Nelson
(Dallas Morning News)
April 11, 2004
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This article originated in the Dallas Morning News and has subsequently appeared in several newspapers nationally.)
HOUSTON -- When John Kerry came to down to breakfast at the St. Regis hotel, he found his wife and her girlfriends in a fit of giggles.
"We have fun on the campaign trail," Teresa Heinz Kerry told. "We work, but we have fun." The woman who never wanted any part of a presidential campaign says she is surviving life on center stage with a little help from her friends.
. . .Being blunt likely will yield mixed reviews, said Myra Gutin, a professor (of communication) at Rider University in New Jersey who teaches a class about first ladies.
"Some are impressed and will be supportive of honesty," she said. "But such candidness could be offensive to some."
Trentonian
Britney wielding her sexuality as tool
By Alexandra Richmond
April 9, 2004
Britney Spears' new stage show, The Onyx Hotel Tour, is so highly sexual that many wags recommend you take your young ones outside as soon as you see a bed on stage.
. . ."I don't think Britney has written anything that commands that kind of academic attention, and her videos don't go far beyond sex," said Jonathan Millen (a professor of communication) at Rider University who teaches a course called "The Social Impact of Rock and Roll").
. . .As for Britney's extremely provocative show, Millen says, "One thing I would like her to recognize is that her audience is very, very young. She doesn't seem concerned at all with the message of promiscuity for young girls. I don't have a problem with anyone being sexual, but she needs to understand who her audience is. She's 22, and if she feels like a mature woman now, that's fine, but her audience is 13 or 14."
San Diego Union-Tribune
Runs, Hits and Auras
By Chris Jenkins
April 8, 2004
(For some, watching baseball in a great ballpark is like a religious experience. Only time will tell if Petco Park becomes one of the cathedrals of the game.)
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Truchil |
. . ."We wanted to hit 10 big league ballparks in two weeks," said Father Joe Carroll, "and in each city, we planned on also seeing a Catholic shrine."
. . . "Walking into a great ballpark," said Padres pitcher Sterling Hitchcock, "is like going into a really nice church." The really great ones: Wrigley, Fenway. The House that Ruth Built. Chavez Ravine. Camden Yards. The last, a retro design that changed everybody's way of thinking about ballparks when it opened in 1992, gives hope that Petco Park might someday attain such exalted status.
. . ."The older ballparks take us back to the time of the youth of Baby Boomers, and now there are so many of us, and we're such an influence on our culture," said Dr. Barry Truchil, a ballpark aficianado who is chairman of the sociology department at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J. "with our generation, we had the father-and-son-at-the-ballpark thing in our memory banks. We're reminded of a different time.
"Since then, everything's gotten so busy. Games are all at night now. Ticket prices are so high. Players aren't the same from year to year. That magical moment you found doesn't seem to exist anymore."
Associated Press Hyatt
Rider prof tackles tasty forest invader
By Evan Berland
March 2, 2004
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has appeared in several news outlets to include the Trenton Times, Trentonian, Newsday, various media Web sites, a National Public Radio affiliate, and area radio stations.)
To Laura Hyatt, the carpet of green that soon will cover forest floors throughout New Jersey is not solely a harbinger of spring.
Hyatt, also views the growth, much of which is made up of the invasive garlic mustard plant, as a meance to wildflowers. Now the Rider University assistant professor has a $120,000 National Science Foundation grant with which to fight the edible invader.
"It might give us some ideas about how we can control it," Hyatt said yesterday. "It we change the environment in a certain way, we can knock out garlic mustard plant by taking advantage of its own internal response. . ."
. . .Hyatt said she plans to use the grant to study garlic mustard in more than 40 areas in Mercer County, including Rosedale and Washington Crossing parks . . . Using that information, Hyatt and her students will develop a computer model to predict what changes in light, water and nitrogen would inhibit the plant's growth.
San Jose Mercury News (California)
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Yahoo Reaches Out to Add 'Invisible' Content
By Michael Bazeley
March 2, 2004
Yahoo announced plans Monday to add significantly more content to its Web index, unveiling partnerships that will augment its search results with things such as Supreme Court audio files, electronic books and Babylonian historical documents dating to 3500 B.C. . . .
. . . "This is very interesting and exciting," said Robert Lackie, an assistant professor at Rider University in New Jersey who has studied the deep Web. "It's not that these search engines are bad, but what they don't do is a good job of finding information that is hidden."
Psychology Today
Caveat Sender: The Pitfalls of E-Mail
By Marina Krakovsky
March 1, 2004
Suler
Chatting on the Phone First When Establishing a New Relationship Can Help Build Trust
We assume that the opportunity to edit our written words means we put our best foot forward, but a recent study suggests that communicating via e-mail alone can doom a relationship. . .
. . . John Suler, a psychologist at New Jersey's Rider University who specializes in Cyberspace behavior, believes that talking first on the phone might set expectations at an appropriate level - an effect that then carries over into the e-mail relationship.
Natural Health
Inner journey: one skeptic's spirit quest led her to go beyond her rational self to rediscover a childhood lesson in faith
By Lois B. Morris
March 1, 2004
Suler
It was a total lunar eclipse, the highlight of last November's calendar, falling on my last night at the New Age Health Spa. . .
. . . I signed up for the weekend at New Age only because my rational explorations seemed to have reached their limit. Though I love spas, I've steered clear of their self-discovery programs. Going by names such as Spirit Quest or, in this case, Inner Journey, many of them incorporate a range of psychotherapeutic and healing techniques that strike me as unscientific.
Some programs, inspired by the traditional Native American vision quest, combine a journey of sorts with deprivation of food, water or shelter to induce an altered state of consciousness and an "intense desire to discover," explains John Suler, Ph.D., a psychologist at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J., who has written on the topic. Vision quests help produce important insights -- and I felt almost desperate for one by the time I drove through the gates of the spa, 125 miles and a huge breath of fresh air away from New York City.
Baltimore Sun
Candidates' spouses revisit traditional role
By Susan Baer, Sun National Staff
January 23, 2004
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is one of many news articles in recent weeks quoting Dr. Myra Gutin, professor of communication, about first ladies or candidates' wives as a result of the Democratic caucus in Iowa and New Hampshire primary. Other media placements include: New York Times, Hartford Courant, International Herald Tribune (France), Atlanta Journal Constitution, Los Angeles Times, BBC, NPR, and WHYY and many more.)
Gutin
WASHINGTON -- For Judith Steinberg Dean, the soft-spoken physician wife of Democratic presidential candidate Holward Dean, Thursday is her day for house calls.
And yesterday, the wife and mother who has been remarkably and insistently absent from her husband's campaign, was called for an emergency - to help resuscitate the once-robust candidacy of her husband just days before the New Hampshire primary.
In a televised interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC's Primetime Thursday, Dean, seated with his arm around his wife, tried his best to soften the hot-headed image of him that has emerged, sealed by his much-mocked concession speech in Iowa on Monday. . .
. . .Myra Gutin, another historian of first ladies and a communications professor at Rider University in New Jersey, says the spouses provide the windows into a candidate's personal life and character that voters demand.
"Having your spouse on the campaign trail is the most visible endorsement of your candidacy," she says. "It says to audiences, 'My wife or my husband is supportive of what I'm doing.' We like to know the character, and we put his or her family in that particular basket."
New York Times
Confronting a Big Loss, a State Just Shrugs
By Richard Lezin Jones and ronald Smothers
January 22, 2004
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Truchil |
To be sure, there were staunch fans who lamented the team's possible move to Brooklyn after its sale late yesterday to the developer Bruce C. Ratner. . .
But many more New Jerseyans were like John Tarro, 45, who shrugged when told of the team's sale and pontential move. "It doesn't matter to me," said Tarro. "It's going to cut down on some of this traffic. . ."
. . ."Part of the problem the Nets face lies in the lack of a Jersey identity," said Dr. Barry E. Truchil, a sociologist at Rider University, who added he thought the Newark arena might have been a place "where over time, an identity with the team as a Jersey team would develop, and that over time could help foster a stronger Jersey identity."
