In the News
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February 10, 2025
“Black people have been taught in America, for the most part, that their history begins when someone else does something to them. Black people are actors. They’re subjects, they do things, and those things are important — not just the things that happen to them,” said Jamon Jordan, lecturer in the Residential College.
CBS News Detroit -
February 10, 2025
Higher immunity rates and effective vaccines have kept COVID relatively mild this winter, but the current virus also avoided the kind of mutations that may have allowed for faster transmission or greater sickness, says Aubree Gordon, professor of epidemiology: “You have two or three years of it being really bad. Usually the first year is the worst — as far as incidence rates and severity goes — and then it settles out.”
The New York Times -
February 10, 2025
Thanks to social media, “there’s more power for (slang) words that are part of very small communities to break out” and a shorter lifespan of words and phrases that catch on, says Jessi Grieser, associate professor of linguistics. “That does seem to be related to the cycle of social media and just how quickly a given term can pop up on TikTok, be used, be changed and then just be gone.”
The Wall Street Journal -
February 7, 2025
“Trump announces tariffs, so markets fall. Trump walks back tariffs, markets rise. If this is a way of writing a TV show, it’s a pretty compelling script and I’m watching it pretty closely. But if this is a way of managing the economy, it doesn’t make any sense,” said Justin Wolfers, professor of economics and public policy.
CNN -
February 7, 2025
“Congress has no ability to really intervene and monitor what’s happening because these aren’t really accountable public officials. So this feels like a hostile takeover of the machinery of governments by the richest man in the world,” said Don Moynihan, professor of public policy, about the young, inexperienced engineers in Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency playing critical roles in seizing control of federal infrastructure.
WIRED -
February 7, 2025
“Innovative startups have the power to change lives — whether through medical breakthroughs or cutting-edge technologies — and they play a crucial role in driving Michigan’s economy forward,” said Kelly Sexton, associate vice president for research, innovation partnerships and economic impact, following the announcement that U-M will receive $10 million in new state funding for research commercialization.
DBusiness -
February 6, 2025
Craig Rodriguez-Seijas, assistant professor of psychology, says a federal court’s refusal to block a Michigan law that bans conversion therapy on LGBTQ minors follows the determination that conversion therapy is not a recognized practice: “It comes from this premise that sexual orientation or gender identity needs to be changed. … There is variability in sexuality and gender identity and that’s just the way things are.”
WEMU Radio -
February 6, 2025
“The most important check is the one that they’re attempting to smash through, which is an independent nonpartisan federal workforce. … If suddenly all of those employees could be fired on a whim by the sitting president or someone who identifies them as opposed to the administration, that’s just a totally different world,” said Kenneth Lowande, associate professor of political science and faculty associate at the Center for Political Studies.
National Public Radio -
February 6, 2025
Feeling stressed and overwhelmed by the constant flood of news is an increasingly common feeling in today’s media landscape, says Ariel Hasell, assistant professor of communication and media and faculty associate at the Center for Political Studies: “People are battling the desire … to know what’s happening, that civic duty that a lot of people feel to stay informed, and the toll that being informed in digital environments can take.”
The Detroit News -
February 5, 2025
Nearly half of U.S. states have yet to establish an “energy-efficiency resource standard,” which can curb demand, lower costs and reduce emissions. “The decline in interest has in some degree coincided with the massive increase in natural gas use in the U.S.,” said Barry Rabe, professor emeritus of public policy, of environmental policy, of environment, and of political science.
Fast Company
