UNH is the state’s host site for the sixth annual China Town Hall, an international event that will focus on China’s rapid development and feature Gary Locke, U.S ambassador to the People's Republic of China.

“China Town Hall: Local Connections, National Reflections” is a national day of programming designed to provide Americans across the United States and beyond the opportunity to discuss these issues with leading experts. The sixth annual CHINA Town Hall will be held at 7 p.m., Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, in Richards Auditorium, Murkland Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

UNH is one of only 59 sites in the nation selected to co-host the event with the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire. The event is sponsored by the UNH Department of Political Science and the Asian Studies program.  

The event features a webcast by Locke, who assumed duty as the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary...

UNH has announced a new quarterly economic index that will help the lodging industry conduct short- and long-range economic planning.

 Managed by the UNH Department of Hospitality Management at the Whittemore School of Business and Economics, the Lodging Executive Sentiment Index (LESI) is based on a monthly survey of 20 lodging executives representing companies with more than 2.5 million hotel rooms across lodging segments and geographic regions of the United States -- more than 55 percent of all U.S. rooms.  

Executives are asked about the present and future conditions of the market. Executives also are asked to report their outlook during the next 12 months about room reservations and employment practices, such as an increase or decrease of their nonmanagerial work force.  

In a forthcoming issue of the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, UNH researchers E. Hachemi Aliouche, associate professor of hospitality management and...

UNH welcomes Jeffrey Alford, author of several books about geography and food, who will present the annual Holden Lecture Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. The Holden Lecture “Eating Leaves: Seeing the World through Food on the Thai-Cambodian Border” takes place at 7 p.m. in Richards Auditorium in Murkland Hall. The lecture is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and Department of Geography, and is free and open to the public.

“Jeffrey Alford is a fascinating man who has led a fascinating life. Though he writes about food, he shows in the process that geography is essential to understanding how people live around the world and, more specifically, what they eat. He demonstrates how the fundamental aspects of geography — environment, culture, politics, history, economics — interact and come together on a plate,” said...

The American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) announced recently that President Mark Huddleston joined its steering committee. In this role, Huddleston will help guide policy and direction of this national network of colleges and universities that have made institutional commitments to lower greenhouse gas emissions and promote the research and educational efforts needed to help society address climate change.

Huddleston is among 18 college and university presidents named today to the steering committee, which includes presidents from seven New England schools. The steering committee is the chief governing body of the ACUPCC and is responsible for guidance, policy, and direction of the ACUPCC. Its members reflect the diversity of higher education in the United States.  

“I am honored to be part of the next phase of ACUPCC work’s to help society address climate change in positive and proactive ways,” Huddleston...

For some people, scientific facts help determine what they believe about an issue. But for others, political views trump scientific facts and determine what information they will accept as true. It’s a phenomenon that is particularly prevalent on the issue of climate change.  

These are among the research findings presented by , professor of sociology, in the article, “Did the Arctic ice recover? Demographics of true and false climate facts.” The article is available online now in the journal Weather, Climate, and Society.

“Science education and outreach efforts commonly aim to communicate basic information that underlies scientific conclusions. An information-to-conclusions ordering follows the natural logic of science, but it fares less well with public opinion on politicized topics...

A collaborative study from the universities of New Hampshire and Maine has found that youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) benefitted significantly from a family-centered transition services model, with 90 percent of participants finding employment after high school. 

In a randomized experimental trial, researchers found that, during the first year, youth with ASD who received services through the Family-Centered Transition Project (FCTP) had significantly higher student expectations for the future, parent expectations for the future, self-determination, and vocational decision-making ability than a control group. 

“FCTP’s process has been proven effective and results in good transition outcomes,” said David Hagner, project director with the UNH Institute on Disability (IOD). “About 90 percent of the students who participated in our first project have obtained employment since graduating from high school.”

Results of the study were published in the...

On June 29, the Office of Environmental Health and Safety sponsored live fire extinguisher training for the UNH community.  One of the 153 people who participated had to put that training into use at home:

“I wanted to let you know that I attended the fire extinguisher training at UNH on June 29. I went because I’d always wanted to know what it was like to use one, without having to use one. It sounded like fun. The training was well done and I appreciated the opportunity. You made it very easy to attend.  

Then last Friday, the wall socket behind my dryer burst into flames and I had to put out a fire. Everything worked exactly as it should have, and by the time the fire department arrived, they only needed to bring in fans to pull all of the smoke out of the house. Having had an opportunity to be trained meant I didn’t have to try to read instructions or worry I was going to do it wrong. Under no circumstances could I have read those instructions...