In the News
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December 10, 2021
Speaking openly about feelings of pain, uncertainty and grief is an important step in helping children process their own emotions, says Nasuh Malas, associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics, commenting on the recent Oxford school shooting. “It can be simply checking in and asking how things are going, how they are experiencing recent events,” he said.
WXYZ/Detroit -
December 10, 2021
“Not only could Homo sapiens generalize and expand across the world, but specific populations could also specialize in certain environments. Together, this allowed our ancestors to thrive in the face of climatic and environmental variability,” said Brian Stewart, assistant professor of anthropology, who argues our Homo sapiens ancestors set themselves apart by developing a new ecological niche.
New Scientist -
December 10, 2021
“The pandemic is not over — stress levels are higher than ever. Life has not gone back to normal for a lot of people. The overall message here is not to delay care and not to wait for emergencies to happen: Work on prevention, prevention, prevention,” said Salim Hayek, assistant professor of cardiovascular medicine, on research that shows that blood pressure among U.S. adults rose in 2020 — a sign of COVID-19’s hidden toll.
The Washington Post -
December 9, 2021
“What has been characterized for a long time is the energies (of the electrons). That’s the basis for all electronics. But now, with quantum information technology, the next level is to go beyond that and eventually get these (wave function) phases,” said Mackillo Kira, professor of physics, and electrical engineering and computer science, on the first-ever experimental reconstruction of a quantum wave function.
Scientific American -
December 9, 2021
“When supporting others, we need to offer the comfort of Kirk and the intellect of Spock,” wrote Ethan Kross, professor of psychology, and of management and organizations, who believes that a little bit of “I feel your pain” is good, as long as it transitions into concrete advice.
The Wall Street Journal -
December 9, 2021
“This apocryphal moment, like so many others constituting the epic search for DNA’s structure, has long been exaggerated, altered, shaped and embellished. … If life was fair, which it’s not, it would be called the Watson-Crick-Franklin model,” wrote Howard Markel, professor and director of the Center for the History of Medicine, about the overlooked role of British chemist Rosalind Franklin in the discovery of the DNA double helix by James Watson and Francis Crick.
PBS NewsHour -
December 8, 2021
Elizabeth Birr Moje, professor and dean of the School of Education, says equitable resource distribution means accounting for opportunity gaps rather than treating every student equally. To provide better opportunities for students to learn, “we need a far better, well-prepared, diverse teaching force. And we need to support teachers. Teachers need support resources. Teachers need more training than ever before. Teachers need to be paid more,” she said.
WDET Radio -
December 8, 2021
“While the economy’s pandemic-driven malaise might feel as if it has dragged on forever, in reality we have been experiencing an unusually rapid recovery,” said Justin Wolfers, professor of economics and public policy. “Starting from April 2020, it took only 17 months for the unemployment rate to fall below 5 percent, while in the previous three post-recession recoveries, it took 75 months, 26 months and 59 months.”
The New York Times -
December 8, 2021
Eve Brensike Primus, professor of law, says authorities must show gross negligence and causation if they want to prove the parents of Oxford school shooter Ethan Crumbley guilty of involuntary manslaughter: “The prosecutor is going to need facts to support the argument that these parents really knew there was a risk that their son would take a gun and shoot people dead — not just that their son was troubled in some way.”
The Associated Press -
December 7, 2021
Marc Zimmerman, professor of public health and director of the Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center, says the COVID-19 pandemic could be partially responsible for an uptick in school violence: “The pandemic has created isolation, has created stress in families and in kids, and it’s all just coming to a head when school reopened. … We’re talking about lots of violence more broadly, not just firearm violence, but lots of incidents of bullying and fighting.”
Michigan Radio
