Releases

EDITOR'S NOTE: UNT now offers interviews directly to you via Skype.  You can record a video interview with available experts from your office, saving you the time and travel.  To use the system, your station will need a Skype account, which is free to download from www.skype.com. Skype-to-Skype calls are free. There are versions for PCs, Mac, UNIX and other systems.

Why do the shrieking violins of Psycho send shivers down many people's spines?

Dr. Andrew M. May, University of North Texas associate professor of music, says  extremes of high or low register; dissonant or unusual harmonies, particularly those that slide chromatically between keys or abruptly out of key; unfamiliar timbres; and sudden contrasts of music, such as a quiet, tense harmony broken by an explosion of sound, all characterize spooky music.

"'Spooky' suggests ghosts, and 'eerie' suggests things being out of proportion -- against expectation or outside of the normal bounds of experience," said May, who directs the Center for Experimental Music and Media at UNT's College of Music. In the center, he composes chamber music in which some of the performers are invisible computer systems, which May sometimes calls playing with ghosts.

May considers the organ to be the eeriest of traditional instruments. He describes organ sounds -- the staple of classic silent horror movies such as the original Phantom of the Opera -- as "coming from all around the space" around the performer.

"We hear a colossal sound, magically disembodied and magnified from the human who controls it," he says.

A prime example is Johann Sebastian Bach's Toccata and Fugue in d minor, prominently featured in Phantom of the Opera.

In addition, music patterns that repeat for a long period of time, such as the famous "shark theme" of two alternating notes in John Williams' score to Jaws, create suspense and tension, May says. He observes that a classic case of several of these techniques working together is the repeated high-pitched "screech" of the violins in Bernard Herrman's Psycho theme. May says that its sudden entrance "never fails to raise the hairs on the back of my neck."

May can be reached at 940-891-6816 or Andrew.May@unt.edu.

Why is yet another Saw movie being released this month?

Dr. Harry Benshoff, UNT associate professor of radio, television and film, explains that Hollywood continues to make and remake horror movies, and produce countless sequels to those that hit box-office gold, partly because of economics. The movies are "cheap and easy to make and have a built-in audience," he says.

"They skew toward younger people. Then five or 10 years go by, and studios can remake the same movie, or release another sequel, for a new generation of teenagers," said Benshoff, who says the appeal of horror movies "is like the appeal of a roller coaster."

"There's a primal desire for many people to be scared and thrilled in a safe zone. You want to be shaken and stirred," he says.

Benshoff notes that the roots of American horror films come from gothic literature, such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, as well as carnival "freak shows." Horror films' themes also tend to be connected to current issues in American society, he says, giving the torture films like Saw and its many sequels as examples.

"These films are connected to 9/11 and its aftermath. Here in America, we don't want a serious debate about torture, but we have a subgenre of horror movies that explore those fears about torture," he says. "Likewise, the slasher movies of the 1980s seemed to be connected to the AIDS crisis. The message seemed to be ‘Have sex and you'll be killed in a terrible way."

In the last 10 years, Benshoff says, yet another type of horror movie has surfaced -- remakes of Asian horror films such as 2002's The Ring, which was Ringu in Japan. Benshoff says interest in Asian horror films in America sprang from interest in Japanese anime.

"These films tend to be true to Asian culture. The ghost with long black hair goes back for centuries," he says. "The films also often have a lot of striking visual qualities, which are fairly new in Hollywood horror films and appeal to audiences."

Benshoff can be reached at 214-350-2497 or at Harry.Benshoff@unt.edu. 

The faculty members may be available via Skype by request; contact Nancy Kolsti at Nancy.Kolsti@unt.edu or 940-565-3509 to schedule an interview.

EDITOR'S NOTE: UNT now offers interviews directly to you via Skype.  You can record a video interview with available experts from your office, saving you the time and travel.  To use the system, your station will need a Skype account, which is free to download from www.skype.com. Skype-to-Skype calls are free. There are versions for PCs, Mac, UNIX and other systems.

The H1N1 virus continues to be a major news story.

Nann Goplerud, interim chair of the Department of News in UNT's Mayborn School of Journalism, is available to comment on the role of the media during an event such as the H1N1 outbreak.

"Both the beauty and the danger of the 24/7 Internet has to do with access to information -- beauty because the information is always available, danger because much of it is incorrect or simply made up. An event like the H1N1 flu outbreak is a perfect opportunity for the traditional news media to again demonstrate its importance to society," she says.

Goplerud cautions that the media must strike a balance between convincing people a threat is serious while not causing widespread panic.

"The tone of the news coverage is critical in a situation like this -- in print, on air and online. This kind of public health emergency is an opportunity for the media to show it's not going to cause a panic, but instead create calm by providing expert advice from medical professionals, updated information on school closings, trends in the spread of the illness, resources about care and other information that will help consumers make choices about their health."

Goplerud says the media can help prevent another Black Death or similar widespread epidemic by providing well-researched, timely information. "The better informed people are and the more easily they can access information, the more able they are to take steps to prevent another widespread illness."

Goplerud has more than 30 years of experience as a broadcast news reporter and news manager, including 21 years at WFAA-TV (Channel 8) in Dallas-Fort Worth. She is currently teaching intermediate and advanced broadcast news writing and reporting classes, as well as media ethics.

Goplerud may be contacted at 940-565-2591 or Goplerud@unt.edu.

EDITOR'S NOTE: UNT now offers interviews directly to you via Skype.  You can record a video interview with available experts from your office, saving you the time and travel.  To use the system, your station will need a Skype account, which is free to download from www.skype.com. Skype-to-Skype calls are free. There are versions for PCs, Mac, UNIX and other systems.

As you report on this year's Supreme Court term, which began this week, consider these University of North Texas political scientists who will discuss specific cases scheduled to be decided by the Court and insights into the Court's docket and decisions. They will also discuss how the newest member of the Court, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, may have an impact on rulings.

Dr. Bethany Blackstone, assistant professor of political science, researches American political institutions with emphasis on judicial process and behavior. She is currently studying the impact of the Supreme Court on congressional decision making and strategic behavior in the U.S. Courts of Appeals.

The 2009-10 Supreme Court cases that Blackstone will discuss include Maryland v. Shatzer, which focuses on how long a suspect's request for an attorney is valid. In that case, two years and seven months had passed between the suspect's first request for a lawyer and the second police interview, which happened to occur while the man was in prison for a different crime.

Blackstone may be reached in her office at 940-565-4923 or by e-mail at Bethany.Blackstone@unt.edu.

Dr. Paul Collins, assistant professor of political science, is the author of "The Friends of Supreme Court: Interest Groups and Judicial Decision Making," which traces interest group participation in the Supreme Court in the form of amicus curiae ("friends of the court") briefs over the last 60 years. In the book, Collins focuses on the briefs' influence on individual justices' responses to the cases being considered, and the Court's overall decisions.

The Court cases that Collins will discuss include McDonald v. City of Chicago, in which justices will decide whether or not to overturn a handgun ban and other aspects of gun registration regulations affecting rifles and shotguns, after the petitioners claimed that such a ban and regulation in Chicago is unconstitutional. Collins will also provide information on Salazar v. Buono, which focuses on a cross that has stood on public land in the remote part of the Mojave National Preserve for 75 years. The Court will decide whether or not the cross, which was erected as a memorial to World War I soldiers and was declared a national memorial by Congress, violates First Amendment religious protections, despite Congress' decision to transfer the land to private ownership.    

Collins can be reached at his office at 940-369-8829, by cell phone at 940-395-5142 or by e-mail at pmcollins@unt.edu.

Dr. Kimi King, associate professor of political science, researches civil rights and liberties, conflict resolution, judicial decision-making, international humanitarian law, and gender rights. She has authored or co-authored articles in "Social Science Quarterly," "Political Research Quarterly," "American Politics Quarterly," "Presidential Studies Quarterly," "Social Science Research" and international law reviews. She has co-authored a book teaching legal research and oral argumentation for moot court undergraduates and co-produced a video that simulates the appellate decision-making process for undergraduate students.

The Court cases that King will discuss include United States v. Stevens, in which the Court will decide if the federal government has the power to ban, as a category of speech, photos and video depictions of animal cruelty, as it is done with child pornography. King will also discuss Graham v. Florida, in which justices will explore whether the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment bars sentences of life without parole for those who were under 18 when they committed their crimes.   

King may be reached at 940-597-4802 or kking@unt.edu.

Eddie Meaders, principal lecturer in political science, served as county attorney of Jones County, Texas, from 1985 to 1990 and still practices law. At UNT, he teaches courses in American politics, specializing in judicial politics. He also teaches a course of the legal systems of the United Kingdom as part of the Department of Political Science's study abroad program in London.

Florida v. Powell is one of the Court cases that Meaders will discuss this term. The case focuses on whether or not the Florida Supreme Court's decision that a suspect must be explicitly advised of his right to counsel during questioning, instead of the suspect receiving a written form, conflicts with the Miranda warnings. Meaders will also discuss American Needle Inc. v. NFL, in which the Court will decide whether or not the National Football League and its teams and licensing agent functioned as a single entity when granting a company an exclusive license to manufacture caps and other gear, and therefore did not violate Section 1 of the Sherman Act.

Meaders may be reached at (940) 565-2310 or meaders@unt.edu.

Barbara Kirby, lecturer in Political Science and Pre-Law Advisor, was regional counsel for Xerox Corporation from 1989 to 2005.  She teaches American government, jurisprudence, and other law related courses, and her research interests include judicial selection, state courts, alternative dispute resolution and legal ethics.
The Court cases that Kirby will discuss include Perdue v. Kenny A, in which the Court will decide whether or not a district court may award higher fees to attorneys who win civil rights action cases, based on extraordinary performance and exceptional results.

Kirby may be reached at (940) 565-4413 or bkirby@unt.edu.

The faculty members may be available via Skype by request; contact Nancy Kolsti at Nancy.Kolsti@unt.edu or 940-565-3509 to schedule an interview.

EDITOR'S NOTE: UNT now offers interviews directly to you via Skype.  You can record a video interview with available experts from your office, saving you the time and travel.  To use the system, your station will need a Skype account, which is free to download from www.skype.com. Skype-to-Skype calls are free. There are versions for PCs, Mac, UNIX and other systems.

Coverage of the H1N1 virus is dominating television news. Some schools have closed, and two North Texas teenagers recently died from the flu. Children may have a difficult time digesting all of this.

Dr. Wendy Middlemiss, University of North Texas associate professor of educational psychology, is available to comment on talking with children about swine flu. Middlemiss can provide tips and suggestions to parents who want their children to take the risk seriously, but do not want to scare them.

"Lots of kids are going to be frightened," Middlemiss says. "You want to talk to them about their fears and discuss certain precautions. Keep it simple and factual. Don't be overly histrionic."

In talking with their kids, parents should stress that most children and people who have had the flu have experienced only mild symptoms and recovered easily. But parents should still be honest and tell their children that some people are becoming more seriously ill from the flu.

If children ask whether they or their friends could die if they contact the swine flu, it is important to answer questions directly and clearly note again that most children recover easily.

Middlemiss suggests focusing on what can be done to prevent the flu, such as hand washing and covering mouths when sneezing or coughing. Parents should practice washing their hands with young children. Middlemiss suggests giving children travel-sized bottles of hand sanitizer and instructing them to use it before every class.

Limiting television coverage for children is also wise, Middlemiss says. Children under 6 are too young to watch the news. For elementary and middle school students, some news watching is OK as long as it is supervised and done in moderating. Using that time to ask and answer questions would be helpful, she adds.

Middlemiss is an expert in the field of educational psychology, child development and family studies. She has been at UNT for more than a year and worked prior to that as an associate professor at Pennsylvania State University.

Middlemiss may be contacted at 940-369-8870, 724-977-3067 or at wendy.middlemiss@unt.edu.