In the News
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September 10, 2021
A bill currently stalled in the Michigan House would “clarify the right of employees and students of color to wear their hair in a way that is consistent with their culture and traditions,” said Michael Steinberg, director of the Civil Rights Litigation Initiative at the Law School. “The bill would also provide needed guidance for employers and school districts: They can no longer force people of color to conform to Eurocentric hairstyles.”
MLive -
September 10, 2021
“Some women who had an abortion had children down the line, and we saw a small increase in financial problems, but by no means as much as for the women who didn’t have access to abortions,” said Sarah Miller, assistant professor of business economics and public policy, whose analysis of research data on the effects of limited reproductive freedom found that being denied an abortion causes massive financial distress, especially among poorer women and women of color.
CNN -
September 10, 2021
“For most collaboration, takeoff is the most challenging bit, and that’s when we find co-location is most helpful. When people have a prior relationship, it’s much easier to sustain that virtually,” said Felichism Kabo, assistant research scientist at the Institute for Social Research, whose research shows that people are more likely to end up collaborating if they see each other in person during the workday.
The New York Times -
September 9, 2021
“Maybe we will discover a new planet lurking in the darkness … Until then, we will keep searching the sky for new and interesting rocks, and by doing so, pull our understanding of our solar system into clearer focus,” said Kevin Napier, doctoral student in astronomy, whose research suggests the existence of Planet 9 can only be conjectured until more observations are made of the outer solar system.
NBC News -
September 9, 2021
Although systems in place since 9/11 have largely suppressed anxiety around air travel, Americans shouldn’t become overly confident that they are impenetrable, says Javed Ali, associate professor of practice in public policy: “People have forgotten, I think, about how serious the threat was … All it takes is another attempted attack to kick-start the conversation about are we doing enough to protect ourselves.”
The Washington Post -
September 9, 2021
“The (Supreme) Court has usually been pretty protective of its own prerogatives; that is, it has liked to be the only entity that could alter its own rulings. But Justice Kennedy was the most attached to that approach — and if abortion is murder (as several of the justices probably think), then some justices may view the 5th Circuit (Court of Appeals) as a little eager, but admirably so, and not want to swat it down,” said Margo Schlanger, professor of law, on the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to strike down a Texas law imposing a near-total ban on abortion.
New York Magazine -
September 8, 2021
“By failing to recognize limits on the ability to impose on other cultures values that have taken many years to attain gradually in its own culture, the United States and its partners will continue the unsound habit of approaching problems by building up the wrong kinds of allies and armies — weakly modeled in America’s image but devoid of the spirit that can only arise from one’s own values and cultures,” wrote Scott Atran, adjunct research professor of public policy and at the Institute for Social Research.
Science -
September 8, 2021
“Clearly, there is some part of the population that just doesn’t like to be told that they need to do something. Personal choice autonomy comes up in a lot of the rhetoric that we hear from people, and it’s not actually about the vaccine or COVID. It’s that they don’t like being, from their perspective, forced to do something,” said Brian Zikmund-Fisher, professor of health behavior and health education.
The Detroit News -
September 8, 2021
“There’s this misguided perception that all of a sudden there are many more spiders than there used to be but, you know, that’s not the case. They’re just more noticeable because the males are moving around” in search of a female, said Anne Danielson-Francois, associate professor of biological sciences at UM-Dearborn. “People shouldn’t panic and call a pest control agency. They’re not interested in setting up shop in the house.”
USA Today -
September 7, 2021
“We know that white supremacists and other types of extremists use social media to talk to each other, to recruit, to try to get their message to go mainstream. The challenge has been that the platforms haven’t really stepped up to fight hate on their platforms,” said Libby Hemphill, associate professor of information and of the Digital Institute and Institute for Social Research, who believes machine learning technology might provide an answer.
MLive
