New York Times (December 25)

Small Publisher Finds Its Mission in Translation

The publishing industry is in a tailspin; translated works account for, at best, 3 percent of the American book market; and budgets for higher education are shrinking. But none of this seems to deter Open Letter Books, a small, year-old press here affiliated with the University of Rochester that publishes nothing but literature in translation. (Also Reported in: San Francisco Chronicle)

New York Times (December 21)

In Oak and Iron, New Pipe Organ Sounds Echo of Age of Bach

The project to build a replica of the Vilnius organ began in 2000 at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, but Eastman had long wanted a new instrument for Christ Church. David Higgs, a concert organist and head of the Eastman organ department, had been seeking one for years.

U.S. News & World Report (December 6)

AIDS May Date Back to Ancient Tiger

“Unless you really understand how these viruses work, the exact step-by-step chemical process, then you can’t really rationally design a new clever kind of therapy that may be effective against the virus,” explained study co-author Robert Bambara, chairman of the University of Rochester’s department of biochemistry and biophysics. (Also Reported in: Yahoo! News, Reuters, USA Today, Fox News, BusinessWeek, China Daily, Straits Times, ABC News, MSNBC, PhysOrg.com, Times Now.tv, and others)

NPR, Talk of the Nation (December 31)

Tackling ‘The Big Questions’ of Life

But first, Steve Landsburg. His new book is called “The Big Questions.” He’s a professor of economics at the University of Rochester and joins us today from a studio at our member station there, WXXI.

USA Today (December 11)

Two Big Dipper constellation stars actually six

An American Museum of Natural History team announced this week that the star Alcor has a companion red dwarf star, Alcor b. Now a team led by astronomer Eric Mamajek of the University of Rochester (N.Y.) confirms that find in an upcoming Astronomical Journal paper, and further reports that Alcor and Mizar, the two bright stars in the handle bend of the Big Dipper, actually orbit each other, separated by about 1.2 light years. (Also Reported in: SpaceDaily, Science Daily, Slashdot, Register)