In the News

  1. April 7, 2022
    • Photo of Stephen Ward

    The release of personal census data for 1950 — a year on the cusp of great change in the United States and its large cities — will be useful for historians and genealogists. “Detroit at the time was a majority white city and it was the fourth-largest city in the country. And because of the auto industry, it was seen as really important for the nation’s economy,” said Stephen Ward, associate professor of Afroamerican and African studies, and the Residential College.

    Detroit Free Press
  2. April 7, 2022
    • Photo of Rosa Vásquez Espinoza

    Research by Rosa Vásquez Espinoza, research fellow at the Life Sciences Institute, and colleagues seeks to better understand the Peruvian Amazon’s stingless bees, what they pollinate and the biochemical contents of their honey. “Stingless bees are bringing life back to the Amazon,” she said, by providing medicinal honey, income and pollination benefits to a region in need of help.

    National Geographic
  3. April 6, 2022
    • Photo of Carol Persad

    “It’s really quite something that aphasia affects over 2 million people in the United States. And it’s actually more common than Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy combined, and yet hardly anyone knows what it is,” said Carol Persad, professor of psychiatry and director of the U-M Aphasia Program, which helps patients communicate after a stroke, head injury or illness.

    WDIV/Detroit
  4. April 6, 2022
    • Photo of Heather Ann Thompson

    “People have a right to read, and people have a right to history. We also have a right to have our books read. It’s a shame we live in a country where we censor people and ideas,” said Heather Ann Thompson, professor of history, Afroamerican and African studies, and the Residential College, who filed suit against New York state prison authorities for banning her book, “Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971.”

    The Associated Press
  5. April 6, 2022
    • Hanna Onyshchenko

    “My president asks for help, and the people in Europe still hesitate. You’re like, ‘Here we go again, the same cycles,'” said Hanna Onyshchenko, a Ukrainian doctoral student in economics. “I just want people to pay attention to history and to the experience that Ukrainians have in this war. I believe in our army, I believe in people and believe that if there will be a call, I’ll also go back home and fight for Ukraine.”

    USA Today
  6. April 5, 2022
    • Photo of Jowei Chen

    The congressional map Kansas lawmakers passed this year had more Republican districts than 98.8 percent of 1,000 nonpartisan, computer-drawn versions, says Jowei Chen, associate professor of political science and research associate professor at the Center for Political Studies: “This extreme, additional level of partisan bias … can be directly attributed to the map drawer’s clear efforts to favor the Republican Party.”

    The Kansas City Star
  7. April 5, 2022
    • Photo of Abram Wagner

    Whether strict lockdowns infringe too much on personal liberties is a different conversation, but China has kept COVID-19 cases much lower overall than the U.S., says Abram Wagner, research assistant professor of epidemiology: “The policies that China has in play with restrictions on some level have had an effect. … (But) omicron has changed the equation in China. It’s just hard to maintain a dynamic zero-COVID policy that stamps it out completely.”

    CNN
  8. April 5, 2022
    • Photo of Denia Djokic

    If nuclear power is going to be a key part of America’s energy future, the U.S. must address its checkered past when mining for uranium in Native American communities, says Denia Djokić, assistant research scientist in nuclear engineering and radiological sciences: “Who gets the clean power? Who has to live with decades of a contaminated environment in their communities? How is that distributed? How can we understand that through a lens of social justice?”

    Marketplace
  9. April 4, 2022
    • Photo of Scott Rick

    Paying for gas is unlike other transactions, like a monthly subscription set on auto-pay, which it’s easy to lose sight of, or a fancy dinner — a waiter takes your card and takes care of the purchase, says Scott Rick, associate professor of marketing: “With gas, you’re just there and watching this thing climb and climb. You can see every penny being extracted from you in real time.”

    Marketplace
  10. April 4, 2022
    • Elizabeth Langen

    “Pregnant women (in Ukraine) are extra vulnerable,” said Elizabeth Langen, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology. “If you’ve destroyed their hospitals and their infrastructure, you’re going to see more women die in childbirth. If mom has postpartum depression or PTSD, which is certainly more likely if you’re delivering in a war zone, that impacts how she’s able to bond with the baby, and how she’s able to provide the care … after the baby’s born.”

    ABC News